Oliver Glasner Discusses Player Fitness, Team Progress, and Upcoming Manchester City Match

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner addressed reporters ahead of Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Manchester City, scheduled for a 15:00 GMT kick-off. The following are the main points from his press conference: Midfielder Adam Wharton has resumed training; however, he will not be available for Saturday’s match. Glasner stated he “really hopes” Wharton will be fit to play against Brighton, followed by the consecutive fixtures against Arsenal in the Premier League and Carabao Cup. Additionally, centre-back Chadi Riad has rejoined training and “is doing really well,” though he will require game time with the under-21 squad to increase his match fitness. Glasner commented that his team “are going in the right direction” as “the performances look quite stable at the moment and on a better level than before.” Regarding the reasons for this progress, he explained: “There are more reasons than just confidence. We are physically in much better shape than we have been at the beginning of the season. The structure and how we are playing is getting more into their mind and into their body than it was at the beginning.” He indicated that his squad needs to “work to be more efficient” when attacking. He further stated: “Then you can miss more, but you also score more goals. It’s also sometimes to be more confident with the ball. We give the ball away too easily in several moments, and then we have to work very hard to get it back.” Addressing the upcoming match against Manchester City, he affirmed: “We always enter a game with the belief in us that we can win the game, and this is the same tomorrow. We know the defending champions are coming. We believe that we have a chance to win the game.” He acknowledged that City’s attacking players “will be a lot to defend” and that “there will be moments when they suffer and have to defend in a deep block,” but he also expressed that he does not want his team to solely press their opponents for the entire 90 minutes.