Vieira is upbeat despite squad being depleted

PATRICK Vieira admits it is “not ideal” to be preparing for the new season without so many key players - but Crystal Palace’s manager is trying to take the positives from his absentee-hit squad’s trip to Australia.

The Eagles enjoyed a promising first season under the France great and opened their pre-season tour with a 2-0 defeat to Premier League giants Liverpool in Singapore.

Palace were without many star names for that friendly, just as they will be for tonight’s exhibition clash against Manchester United in front of more than 75,000 fans at the cavernous Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Wilfried Zaha, Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze are among those to have remained at home, with the club revealing some players were unfit and others “did not meet the entry requirements for Singapore or Australia when travel arrangements were made.”

Vieira said: “I think it’s not the ideal situation for a manager, of course, to have so many players behind,

“On the other side, we are really pleased as a club and myself as a manager to be part of that tournament. We went to Singapore, we are in Australia today and we look at our squad, we have so many young talents in our football and to have this kind of experience for them is something unbelievable for them.

“We had some young players who never went outside of Europe.”

Asked if it was embarrassing that some players had to stay behind due to their vaccination status, Vieira said: “It’s important to understand there are players who are staying behind for a different reason.

“We just try to make the best decisions possible for us to be competitiive.”