BY ANDREW MCSTEEN
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has told the South London Press that his side have earned the right to play at Wembley in their FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa on Saturday and his players are relishing the challenge of making history.
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson revealed on Friday that he and his Eagles team-mates were keen to write history and become the first Palace side to win a major trophy, after the club lost both the 1990 and 2016 FA Cup Finals – and they could be just 180 minutes away from doing so.
“I hope I can see it tomorrow, because today it’s a little bit easier. But tomorrow, of course, everybody will be a little bit nervous and excited,” said Glasner on if he can see that desire in the eyes of his players.
“We deserve to play there because we have won four games in the FA Cup. It’s also not just being too humble, it’s also being confident and saying we deserve to play there, but we also love to play there, and this balance is what we are talking about.
“If you go to the playground here (the community sports pitches which adjoin the Crystal Palace training ground in Beckenham) and ask the boys and girls who are playing there everybody will say: ‘Hey, I would like to play at Wembley’. You should never forget that and we have the privilege to do it.”
Glasner also gave an insight into the moments before the team goes out on to the Wembley pitch, revealing individual routines merge into one final group one, when he hears a certain song – and allowing him to go through his final pre-match routine, one involving caffeine.
“Every player is a little bit different in the preparation. Some are very quiet before, some are talking a little bit more, some are listening to very loud music, I would say, strange music, and some don’t do this,” said Glasner, who admitted he was a big fan of Irish band U2.
“This is their individual preparation and it’s good because we need every single one [of them], but then on the pitch, we work as a group. I know there’s always the same song before they leave the dressing room for warm-up, so I know when I hear this song, they will leave and then I know now it’s good. Now it’s quiet. Then, I will usually drink a coffee.”
PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD
