Oliver Glasner and his Crystal Palace squad went into last night’s encounter with Fulham carrying heavy fatigue and multiple injury concerns, with a trip to Newcastle United coming less than 72 hours later.
Palace managed to grab a 39th-minute advantage, despite Fulham largely controlling proceedings.
After the interval, the visitors grew increasingly dominant as Crystal Palace clearly ran out of energy, with Fulham drawing level through Cairney and arguably deserving all three points.
Fulham boss Marco Silva admitted after the match that they had anticipated Palace would tire and become vulnerable as the contest wore on, given the home side’s congested schedule and lengthy injury list.
Having lost four of their previous five matches (the lone exception being a 2-2 home draw against Finnish minnows KUIPS), Glasner was simply relieved to avoid another defeat, with Crystal Palace managing just one shot on target aside from their goal.
The Palace manager openly acknowledged how severely fatigue and absentees are affecting his squad, and it remains unclear who he will feel comfortable risking against a Newcastle United side that have benefited from two additional days of recovery.
Glasner is now facing the prospect of at least ten players being unavailable for the Newcastle fixture, after Will Hughes was forced off inside the opening hour:
“Will just felt fatigue everywhere around the hip, once it was the hamstring, then it was the adductor, then it was the thighs…we have to assess him further but of course we hope that we won’t miss him in the next game, because I think nobody will return [from the injury list] for the Newcastle United game and we need him.”
Reflecting on the overall performance, Glasner highlighted the reality of Palace’s current predicament:
“I think that as long as the legs were fresh, we played absolutely okay. We know that with everything, the amount of games and the number of fit players we have, that we are a little bit in a survival mode…Everybody could see and feel it, that the legs are getting fatigued and the mind is getting fatigued.”
These are the ten Crystal Palace players who look set to miss the clash with Newcastle United:
Will Hughes (To be assessed)
Chris Richards (Foot injury)
Daniel Munoz (Knee injury)
Chadi Riad Dnanou (Knee injury)
Ismaila Sarr (African Cup of Nations)
Eddie Nketiah (Muscle injury)
Cheick Doucoure (Knee injury)
Daichi Kamada (Hamstring injury)
Rio Cardines (Muscle injury)
Caleb Kporha (Back injury)
Crystal Palace travel to Newcastle United on Sunday, then host Aston Villa, before an FA Cup tie just three days later.
Glasner insisted:
“We have three more games to play in the next nine days and I can promise we will give our best in every single game.”
The reality, of course, is that while maximum effort will be given, fatigue and the risk of further injuries remain unavoidable if exhausted players are overused.
When Newcastle United endured the worst of their own injury crisis — alongside Sandro Tonali’s suspension — during the 2023/24 season, they were forced to rely on the same players across midweek and weekend fixtures. That approach proved unsustainable, with United suffering a difficult spell from December 2023 into January 2024 before gradually welcoming players back, exiting both the Champions League and Carabao Cup along the way and reducing their fixture load.
Newcastle United are still dealing with several injury issues of their own, but signs of improvement are emerging, especially with Pope, Joelinton and Wissa able to start against Burnley.
Crystal Palace’s fatigue and depleted squad must be fully exploited on Sunday at St James’ Park.