Ahead of Wednesday night's clash with Southampton, manager Oliver Glasner faces a conundrum in replacing the in-form Chris Richards at the heart of the defence.
Speaking in the embargoed section of his pre-match press conference earlier on, the manager revealed that the United States international was out with a calf strain – but is expected to return for the weekend's match against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Although this is a setback, Glasner was not too worried about replacing the centre-back, who had previously started every game this calendar year so far, and who also went away on international duty with the United States earlier last month.
“He picked up the injury at the end of the game [against Fulham in the FA Cup]. He felt like a cramp in his calf, and we thought it was a cramp.
“This often [occurs] after the travelling of the players. For Richards, in LA, there is about an eight hours' time difference – it’s a 12-13 hour flight.
“It's not really a danger, or a heavy injury, but we know we can't take any risk now, because if the muscle ruptures or something like this, then he's out for four, five, or six weeks.
“It wouldn’t have been a big problem in March, where we have just two games, but now I think we have seven in April, and we want the players to be there.”
Richards being unavailable presents an interesting dilemma for Glasner, who could alter the familiar tactical setup of 3-4-2-1 or utilise different personnel in the centre-back role.
In the mid-season friendly against HamKam back in March, the manager utilised Jefferson Lerma in a centre-back role for 45 minutes - a position the Colombian has deputised in before, such as in the 1-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield last season.
“This is a solution, but solution two is Nathaniel Clyne. Solution three, which may be surprising, from when we’ve sometimes played internally: I’ve tried Tyrick Mitchell once inside for a half, and then Ben Chilwell for another half.
“Against HamKam, Jefferson Lerma did play in the back three. We’re always [trying to] get information on what could work, how they could fit together. We’ve got some responses there and we will see that tomorrow.
“Tyrick has five assists. Sometimes he is criticised [on attacking returns], but Daniel Muñoz has five or six as well. Okay, Muñoz also scores more goals, but this is his nature; he is more of an attacking player.
“It’s also important to have this balance, so you’re not too attacking. For example, if you have two very attacking midfielders you can struggle. It’s all about balance.
"T helps us immensely in keeping our clean sheets and Dani helps us immensely in creating our chances, so I think we have good balance there - let’s see.”
Southampton v Crystal Palace
