PALACE ON THE BRINK OF SAFETY... & INSECURITY

Contract chaos looms for Benteke & Co

until the end of the season due to the pandemic.

Palace are already on 37 points before tonight’s visit to Everton and look assured of an eighth consecutive season in the top flight.

But Hodgson (below) said: “The players are professionals with great pride in their performance.

“These days it is a situation which should, if anything, be more of a concern for the football club than the actual players.

There is a lot of them out of contract.

“It is not easy to turn a club inside out, lose half of your squad and get another half in.

“And if players don’t sign a new contract here, they will be free to go wherever they want.

“There are a lot of players here who will be in that situation. If they don’t get the contract here, they are free to go, and I would be very, very surprised if there weren’t a lot of clubs out there thinking, ‘We will take advantage of this. We will take them instead’.”

Former England winger Townsend, 29, who joined the Eagles in 2016, told Talksport: “At the moment Palace are speaking to nobody, so we’re all in the same boat. You don’t speak about other clubs, you just let your agent deal with it, which is what I’m doing.”

Everton tried to sign Wilfried Zaha in August 2019, but the Ivory Coast star has returned to form this campaign with nine Premier League goals in 21 starts. “He’s been very good,” said Hodgson. “He’s missed more games through injury than in previous years, but we’re hoping to keep him fit for the next nine. “He seems to be pretty much clear at the moment, as to what he wants to do and where he wants to be. At the end of the season, we’ll see what happens.”