Roy backs current squad to lift gloom
ROY HODGSON insists he is not panicking – yet.
The Crystal Palace manager has seen his side lose their last three games and score just once in their last four.
Hodgson’s 15th-placed side have scored only five goals in the Premier League all season – the second worst record in the top flight behind second-frombottom Huddersfield.
Striker Christian Benteke is out until the New Year after knee surgery, while fellow centre-forward Alexander Sorloth has struggled to make an impact at Selhurst Park and on-loan arrival Jordan Ayew is still adapting to Hodgson’s style.
But Hodgson, whose side host Arsenal tomorrow, says he is still happy with his squad and has no plans to plead for cash for new players in the January transfer window.
“We have not talked about it,” he said.
“The discussions we have had with the chairman Steve Parish are about what we are doing with the squad that we have.
“The January window is a long way off and there is a lot of time we need to spend to try to win matches before that. We are more interested in working with the forwards we have – Connor Wickham, Alex Sorloth, Wilf Zaha, Jordan Ayew and Sullay Kaikai.
“For most teams changing one or two players is the most they can do, and you then have to ask is January the right time to be changing your team and will you get the right sort of deals?
“I am confident in the squad we have at the moment and that they can climb up the table. “With the long-term injury doubts, until they come back we won’t know if they are ready to fill in the slots in our squad. We have the next two months to analyse that. “But if everyone stays fit we won’t have many slots in a 25-man squad.”