After a first league victory on Sunday, Crystal Palace come into the round of 16 EFL Cup tie against Aston Villa buoyed with confidence.
Oliver Glasner's side earned victories over Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers to progress to this stage of the competition, and the Eagles will be hoping to continue their run in the competition on Wednesday night.
Speaking ahead of the EFL Cup encounter, Glasner discussed his sides approach and team news:
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Cup Mentality
Glasner boasts an impressive cup resume, having won the UEFA Europa League in 2021/22, and earning the runners up medal in the DFB-Pokal 2022/23 whilst manager of Eintracht Frankfurt.
When asked why the Austrian manager had previously achieved so much success, Glasner jokingly responded, "I don't know."
The Palace manager elaborated, “for me, every game, we go to win it. But it's just the last 16, you have nothing won yet, so it makes no sense now to be talking about when the final will be."
“It's now [all about] going to Villa, to Birmingham, and playing to win the game, but this is the mindset we always try to implement into the team: that we go out to win the game."
It is this belief that Palace must take into every game, and Glasner stated his side should not be fearful, and believes his side "can win against any team."
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The Strength of Villa
If Palace are to progress to the Quarter-Finals then they must overcome a flourishing Aston Villa side.
The Villans defeated Wycombe Wanderers of League One to progress to this stage of the competition, and Unai Emery's side currently sit fourth in the Premier League.
Villa have also excelled on the European stage, as they lead the Champions League table after wins over Young Boys, Bayern Munich and Bologna.
"Villa are also in quite good shape – they lead the Champions League table with three wins [from three matches] – but we will be ready in the game.”
Glasner can take confidence that his side defeated Villa 5-0 in their last encounter however, it will not matter for much come Wednesday night.
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Confidence from first league win
Palace have endured a barren start to the Premier League season, but after eight matches without victory, the Eagles were able to overcome Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at Selhurst Park, and Glasner is keen for his side to utilise the momentum.
“I think it helps, for the confidence it helps. Sometimes if you're always told you can, you can, you can' but when you always fail, there will be a moment when you lose your belief. This win helps to see, yes, when we do this in this way, we can win against any team."
However, Palace must ensure there is no complacency, and Glasner pointed to other results to showcase how his side must always come into matches at the top of their game.
"We now know what is needed to win against the top teams. Every team, every game, I think [on Saturday] there were three draws and the two wins were by one goal, I think today [Sunday] is the same. The Premier League has very tight games, and very good teams, but definitely for all of us it's a good feeling, going to bed with having this first win, and not always responding to these questions."
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Team News
Cheick Doucoure returned to training last week however, Glasner confirmed that the match had come too soon for the Malian midfielder, stating, "no, no," when asked if Doucoure would be available.
Doucoure is joined on the sidelines by long term absentee's Matheus Franca, Chris Richards and Chadi Riad, who all continue their recovery from their respective injuries.
Jefferson Lerma is also not expected to feature after being forced off during the victory over Spurs.
Rob Holding also remains absent from the first team, but Glasner still retains a strong squad, and the Palace manager is bullish his side can advance to the Quarter-Finals.
