Oliver Glasner has delivered an appraisal of what new arrival Ben Chilwell will bring to the Crystal Palace squad, ahead of a possible debut against Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup fourth-round on Monday night.
Amongst a variety of topics, the manager discussed the range of roles Chilwell can fulfil in the squad; the outcomes of the January transfer market; the free-scoring form of Jean-Philippe Mateta; and his side's FA Cup chances.
Read on for the manager's key pre-match quotes...
It's good to have him here. It’s good that we could sign, or in his particular case, loan a second left wing-back, because T. Mitchell has played almost every single minute and he's very consistent and very performing on a high level, but we have to be prepared that maybe also he could get tired at the moments of the year or suspended or whatever.
Then, we were looking on the market. Ben was always one of our top targets because he's Premier League experienced. Talking about who can help us immediately, because now we have three-and-a-half months and then it's end of the season, so we can't say, ‘okay, we have someone preparing him for two or three months, then he's ready’ because then he's off.
He played the wing-back position under Thomas Tuchel when they won the Champions League, he can play in a back four, so many aspects have spoken for him.
Then we had to talk, and we didn't know if it was possible for different reasons, but then it looked like that it could be possible and then we tried to sign him – and, fortunately, it worked.
We were also looking at the centre-back market and we found some targets, but they were not available for different reasons, and then we said ‘okay, we trust in all the players we have’.
We have, let's say, three centre-halves who are used to playing in this position. We also have Nathaniel Clyne, who can play this role and played excellent at the end of last season. We have Jeff Lerma, who can play this position – he also did it excellently, I remember he played there at Liverpool and defending [against] Mo Salah in a fantastic way.
Then we decided not to sign a centre-back, because we were not 100 percent convinced of the available targets. Maybe Ben and T can play here as well. We had one game – the Newcastle game where we were 1-0 down – and we switched we played Dani Muñoz as right centre-back and Ismaïla Sarr as a wing-back, being more attacking.
We have several options and then we said: ‘no, we don't do anything.’ We trust in the players we have. We trust in the group we have. We have a great spirit at the moment.
This was a big issue in summer, after 10 players leaving and seven new players coming in, and now have a great spirit again. Then, we say two signings – with Romain Esse and Ben Chilwell – are enough, and we trust in our squad.
We’re looking to Doncaster. Always in a Cup competition, or the same in the league, it makes no sense thinking about the end – you have to make several steps to lift the trophy in the Cup.
You could see the Stockport game. We played at home, and then we had a good start, but it was not so easy to create chances and score goals. Now, we play away at Doncaster. We watch them and we have a respect for them.
Yesterday they lost after four wins in a row. They're still second in the league [League Two] and playing at home [on Monday], and we prepare like we prepare for every single game.
It's a little bit easier because it's not a three-game week, it’s on Monday and we have a full week to prepare, so we prepare the same way like we prepare for a Premier League game: we go there with respect and we will play there with the best available team.
[JP Mateta] is doing really well and performing well, but like every single player, and like me as a manager, we all have situations where we can improve and this is the same with him.
Yes, he scores great goals, he's very important for us, he's hard-working, he's always available, and always in a good mood, but we always try to support the players and the same with him, to help him to increase his performances, and of course then to score more goals.
I don’t really look at just the goals he's scoring, he's also working really hard in defending, and now, when we talk about the last weeks and especially the away games, I think we had four clean sheets in the last five games. Everything starts with the front man, and he's the front man in defending.
The attacking three have a lot of things to do in defence, but they know when they work for the team, they get the reward with chances, with finishes, with goals, and that's why I think they invest so much for the team, but on the other side this is what we expect from them.
We had a good run in the Carabao Cup and then we lost at the Emirates, 3-2. It still hurts because then you're out – you don't get a second chance.
In England, I think it's one of the few countries where you have a second chance because there is a second cup competition, and so we want to take our second chance, but again, we don't think about Wembley.
We’re focused on Doncaster and again it is with all the respect for Doncaster. When you go as a Premier League club to a League Two club it’s your responsibility to win this game, but always to respect them and take it seriously, then we will win, and if we are sloppy or we think we are better and we don’t have to invest, then this is why the Cup is so famous, because then surprises can happen.
But we don’t want it to be at Doncaster!
