SM
Monday, November 25
Upcoming predictions and previews
BC
EFL Cup | Fourth Round
Oct 24, 2017 at 7.45pm UK
 
CP

4-1

Taylor (32'), Djuric (39'), Bryan (60'), O'Dowda (66')
FT(HT: 2-1)
Sako (21')

Roy Hodgson: 'EFL Cup is important to Crystal Palace'

:Headline: Roy Hodgson: 'EFL Cup is important to Crystal Palace': ID:310232: from db_amp
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson insists that his side will not prioritise their Premier League match with West Ham ahead of their EFL Cup trip to Bristol City.

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has insisted that he will not prioritise the Premier League over the EFL Cup as he believes that his side can succeed on both fronts.

The Eagles currently sit rock-bottom of the Premier League table and five points from safety having lost eight of their opening nine matches, and on Tuesday they travel to a Bristol City side fighting for a playoff spot in the Championship.

Hodgson confirmed that he will make changes for the fourth-round trip to Ashton Gate, but rejected the suggestion that the EFL Cup is less of a priority.

"I am hoping to [make changes], I'd like to because we have some very, very good players. For example, we have two centre-backs who played virtually all of last year in Tomkins and Kelly and at the moment, they're not getting a game and it would be interesting for me to see them," he told reporters.

"We've got a Welsh international goalkeeper on the bench, for example, so there are lots of situations like that where people are crying out for a game, and it would be wrong of me I think not to give them a chance in a midweek game to show what they can do. I'm hoping we'll have a strong team going to Bristol.

"We are going to go there and try to win the game - it's not a question of we don't care about Tuesday because we have got a match on the Saturday. At the moment, I think we are capable of doing both of those things. We don't have an enormous amount of midweek games at Crystal Palace - once we're out of this cup, we won't have any more midweek games until such time as we perhaps play in the FA Cup, so we have no reason to start protecting ourselves.

"It's more a question of maybe giving one or two players who have been champing at the bit to try to get a chance to show what they can do vis-a-vis the ones I am choosing in the first team at the moment to show they they have got the quality we are looking for too."

Palace's next league game sees them host fellow strugglers West Ham United on Saturday.

amp_article__310232 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2017-10-27 10:35:44:
html db last update - 2017-10-27 10:35:44 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Roy Hodgson

Click here for more stories about Crystal Palace

Share this article now:
Read more about Roy Hodgson Football
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .