Eagles flying high but Hodgson is wary of a crash and burn-out
CRYSTAL PALACE boss Roy Hodgson believes the fast and furious nature to the return of the Premier League will be tough to adapt to for his small squad.
The Eagles ran out 2-0 winners against Bournemouth last night and are now sitting in ninth place, with all eyes cast on a European spot next season.
But Hodgson, 72, has concerns with how difficult it will be for his Palace stars to cope with the difficult run in.
He said: “It’s not going to be easy. I’m a little bit concerned of these games coming so fast and furious on top of each other that it’s going to test our squad to the limit.
“As we see in the matches so far, teams are using all their substitutes and we’ve already seen quite a lot of injuries.
“Luckily at this moment in time we’ve got a good squad going into the games and I’m rather hoping at least one of the players on our injured list will get back.”
Midfielder Luka Milivojevic gave Palace the lead with a stunning free-kick before Jordan Ayew doubled Palace’s advantage.
The Serbia powerhouse is thankful that his side are looking up towards the top of the table opposed to towards the drop like in previous seasons.
Milivojevic said: “We could not imagine a better beginning to the restart.
“Before we had three wins in a row, three clean sheets and then a big break. It’s not been easy to continue that but tonight to come here and win 2-0 I’m really happy.
“European football is a possibility. We are not far from it.
“In previous seasons, all the time we are looking behind us and this time we are close to it, looking up.”