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Crystal Palace are expected to name a strong line-up ahead of the FA Cup fourth round tie with Stoke.
Manager Alan Pardew says new signing Emmanuel Adebayor will not start for the match as he is not match ready.
Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam (calf) may be absent after coming on as a substitute before leaving again shortly afterwards in midweek.
Striker Mame Diouf and defender Phil Bardsley are expected to come into the team.
Editor’s Note: Crystal Palace finally broke their goal drought last Weekend although they had Jan Vertonghen to thank for that, the situation looks like it has been addressed what with the signing of Emmanuel Adebayor although he doesn’t feature today as Palace host a Stoke side who was the last side the Eagles have actually won a game against, with that win coming on December 19
It’s been a particularly barren spell since then as Alan Pardew’s side have dropped to 11th in the League as their season has all but petered out. After that win over Stoke just before Christmas the talk was of Palace pushing on and securing a European place at the end of the season, the league route is all but closed off but they could still do it with F.A. Cup success.
They play host to a Stoke side who suffered Cup heartbreak of their own on Tuesday as they were cruelly knocked out of the Capital One Cup to Liverpool on Penalties. They were certainly the better side on the night but will probably rue the fact they didn’t manage to score in the first leg three weeks ago.
Mark Hughes will have to decide whether to make wholesale changes to the side due to the fact that they were taken all the way to Extra Time and Penalties in Midweek. So Palace may fancy their chances against a potentially weaker Stoke side who are currently 9th in the Premier League.
That said Palace still haven’t got a Goalscorer on the pitch just yet (considering Jan Vertonghen is now unavailable thanks to Conor Wickham’s elbow) so I’m not sure they will be able to take full advantage of Stoke’s tiredness. They’ll have Stoke on the ropes but will fail to land the killer blow. A draw for me.
