Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has registered his excitement over how Jeffrey Schlupp is pushing Wilfred Zaha and Andros Townsend for a starting berth.
Schlupp climbed from the bench to add a goal to Zaha’s strike as the Eagles defeated Burnley 2-0 over the weekend.
The Ghanaian performance has earned him praises from Hodgson who believes it’s a good sign of progress.
Hodgson has three wingers who are pushing for two spots in his team, which is a welcome relief from the injury problems they are now suffering in defence.
He said: “I thought Schlupp’s performance at Burnley was really good, so we’re not 100 per cent dependent on Wilf and Andros.”
“When they’re playing well and they’re at the top of their form, that’s great and we know we have two good players, but if they’re not, there are others.”
“Certainly Jeff Schlupp’s performance up at Burnley – which was a match-winning performance in many ways – emphasised that point.”
Zaha remains the only Palace player to have appeared in every fixture this season and made his 13th consecutive Premier League start on Saturday.
In contrast, Hodgson has rotated Townsend and Schlupp with the pair both making eight starts in all competitions this term.
After a difficult period at the beginning of the campaign, the former England manager is happy to see ex-Spurs winger Townsend bounce back.
Hodgson added: “Andros is a player who will come off after a poor game and admit it.
“Earlier in the season, I didn’t think he was playing anywhere near as well as he should be and with a guy like Jeff Schlupp knocking on the door, I thought it was the right time to put him in and give him a chance.
“Andros took that on the chin, he has fought back and got himself back into the team and in the game against Liverpool in particular really helped us to a good performance.”
Schlupp is expected to be in action when Palace play Bournemouth on Tuesday.