da poker： Crystal Palace defender Patrick van Aanholt is battling to be fit for the club’s festive fixtures, per The London Evening Standard.
What’s the word?
da bwin： The Dutch full-back was injured during the 1-0 win over AFC Bournemouth at the beginning of December but there is said to be hope that he could return before the turn of the year.
Palace have three games prior to New Year’s Day; they face Newcastle United this weekend, West Ham United on Boxing Day and then Southampton on December 28th.
The 29-year-old is said to be working hard to return in time to play some part in that triple-header, with Palace particularly short at full-back.
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Jeffrey Schlupp and Joel Ward are both injured, as is Gary Cahill, meaning that Roy Hodgson may be forced to shuffle his pack in defence.
A major blow
One wonders how Palace’s defence will look if van Aanholt is unable to return.
The left-back being out at the same time as Schlupp is bad luck in the extreme, with the Eagles ending their clash with Brighton & Hove Albion with James McArthur covering on the left side of defence.
Jairo Riedewald was also injured against the Seagulls, meaning that, in total, Palace have injuries to five defenders.
Did he really play for us?! No Palace fan has managed to name all of these obscure Eagles signings….
Hodgson will have to work some magic to ensure that he can even field a back four of senior players; James Tomkins, Scott Dann and Martin Kelly are their only fit options, with Mamadou Sakho suspended.
A back three may be his only choice, otherwise he will have to play some attackers out of position or raid the club’s academy.
Meanwhile, Palace fans want one man in the starting XI more regularly.