CON THE WARPATH
Frustrated Vieira rips into Chelsea over Gallagher Cup snub
PATRICK VIEIRA is furious with Chelsea after they rejected a request to let Conor Gallagher play in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final.
The Palace boss had hoped the on-loan midfielder would get the green light to test himself against his parent club at Wembley.
But, to his frustration, the Blues have stuck to FA rules which stipulate loaned players cannot play without written permission from the lending club, meaning the England star must sit out the game.
Vieira said: “It’s not the best rule because the only one who will lose is Conor.
“There’s a semi-final, it’s a really exciting game about how you will manage yourself and prepare yourself to play that game. Then there’s playing that kind of game and the importance of it.
“It’s an experience the player is missing and I’m disappointed for him.
“He has played all the games so far and if there’s
somebody who deserves to be in the semi-final, it’s him because of his performances, so I’m disappointed.
“The decision for Chelsea to send him on loan is to play these kind of games.
“We have an opportunity to play an important game and that game would have given him more confidence and belief.
“We could lose but for him to have been on the field is what he needs to keep developing himself.
“Since he has been with us, he has been fantastic and for him not to get involved in that game, it is something frustrating for his development.
“I feel for him because he wanted to play – every player would want to play in that game.”
Before the semi-final, Palace take on Leicester today and Vieira wants his club to learn from the
Foxes about stepping up to become European regulars and silverware challengers.
He added: “Leicester’s example is good to follow because they have been really consistent in what they have tried to build.
“They have this kind of stability that gives them the opportunity to grow as a team and a club.
“Winning this game is not about sending a message – as a club, as a team, we want to finish as high as we can and if that is ninth or 10th we will try to get it.
“This is a good period to see how ambitious we are as individual players to want to finish in the top half of the table.