The Eagles’ first competitive match in three weeks will see them take on their West London rivals at Craven Cottage – with the prize of a semi-final berth at Wembley on the line.
The FA Cup remains the only medal missing from serial trophy winner Chilwell’s collection, with the England international having previously reached the final with Chelsea in 2020/21 and semi-finals in 2023/24.
But Chilwell says that – when kick-off comes around on Saturday lunchtime (12:15 GMT) – Palace will be ready to compete.
“I've been to Wembley a few times!” Chilwell smiled. “We're all just so motivated and so ready.
“It’s been a few weeks since we've had a game, so we've been making sure – if you saw training this morning – we've been making sure that every day has been sharp.
“The manager [Oliver Glasner] is making sure that we're on it every day because, like you said, these opportunities, as I know, don't come around very often.
“The manager has spoke about it a lot, that he's never been to Wembley. He told us this morning that he went to the [England] game [on Monday] just to go and soak in Wembley and it added a bit more motivation for him. I'm sure there’re probably a few boys in the changing room that also haven't been to Wembley.
“The motivation is 100 per cent there. If we can hopefully get the win on Saturday, which we're going to be very motivated for, then the next step is Wembley. There's not much more motivation needed than that.”
