Pardew defends Palace selection

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew says his hands were tied after he made eight changes to his team for last night’s 2-0 loss to Southampton at St Mary’s.

Eagles’ fans had voiced their irritation on social media about Pardew devaluing the EFL Cup by fielding a weakened side for the trip to the South Coast.

Pardew’s hopes of progressing in the competition were not helped by skipper Scott Dann limping off with an injury but the Crystal Palace manager revealed he would have changed little about his selection in hindsight.

According to Pardew, Palace were carrying a number of niggles following their Premier League game with Stoke City and many of the changes were enforced.

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Yohan Cabaye returned to the side after missing the last two matches with a groin injury, with Dann, Wilfried Zaha and Joel Ward the only survivors from the XI that started on Sunday against Stoke City.

“When you make changes, which Southampton did too, you’re never quite sure whether players are up to speed and I think we had one or two that looked a bit rusty,” he said.

“I can’t fault them as everyone gave their all, but we couldn’t create anything because we didn’t have enough imagination or find a route to their goal.

“We were forced to make three changes to the back four from Sunday when Dann went off, so we got a bit disjointed there and gave up more chances than any other team has had against us this year.

“We’ve been really solid and had only conceded one goal in open play until Southampton.”