Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner has revealed how many changes he is set to make to his starting lineup for Wednesday's Premier League clash with Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.
The Eagles are bidding to return to winning ways after failing to come out on top in any of their last three league matches, with heavy away defeats to Manchester City (5-2) and Newcastle United (5-0) followed by a 0-0 home draw with Bournemouth last weekend.
Palace are now preparing for their fourth Premier League fixture in the space of 11 days, with their latest challenge against Mikel Arteta's Arsenal falling just three days before their FA Cup semi-final showdown with Aston Villa at Wembley this weekend.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference on Tuesday about how he intends to balance his squad's workload, Glasner said: "It's everything - [balancing] all the minutes with players who have played in the last games.
"We are in a good situation that the players are fit, but we want them to stay fit, and therefore of course we're always monitoring their minutes.
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"I mention it quite often: having a three-game week is not a big problem, but now it's the second three-game week, and they're very intense games, so then we have to look at what's best, and which players are in the best shape.
"It doesn't mean that we make 10 changes tomorrow, but maybe two or three. It's not because we value the Saturday game more than tomorrow's game - it's just we need to be physically top fit and mentally top fit to be competitive against Arsenal."
Glasner confirms Chilwell will miss Arsenal clash
While Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure remain long-term absentees with knee injuries, Glasner has confirmed that Chelsea loanee Ben Chilwell will miss Wednesday's contest due to illness.
"No [new] injury concerns, but sickness - Ben Chilwell is sick, unfortunately," said Glasner revealed. "He should have started but he couldn't come today to training, and couldn't train, so he's not available - all others are fit."
Crystal Palace will also be without defender Chris Richards who is suspended after being sent off against Bournemouth last time out, so either Jefferson Lerma or Nathaniel Clyne could be called upon to start alongside Maxence Lacroix and captain Marc Guehi in the back three.
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Glasner talks up Palace's 'Champions League week' before Arsenal clash
Sharing his thoughts on Palace's remaining fixtures, Glasner said: "To be honest, before the [March] international break, with the postponed Newcastle game, it's not so fluid - it's three weeks with no game, then five games within two weeks.
"And also players, then, being suspended, like when Will Hughes had a two-game suspension [which ruled him out for two matches previously], Marc [Guehi] a red card, and some players being sick - not really injuries, but being sick.
"The last few weeks didn't feel like the weeks before, where the players could always train together and play together, but we have to deal with this situation, and the players dealt really well with all the circumstances against Bournemouth.
"We're looking forward to our 'Champions League week' - playing the semi-finalists and quarter-finalists within the space of three days! It's our 'Champions League week'!"
Palace currently sit 12th in the Premier League table, but they remain in contention to sneak into the European places as they are only five points behind eighth-placed Bournemouth with five matches left to play.
Oliver Thomas
