Vieira watched Palace Under-21s side secure a remarkable 7-3 victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night, when Gordon scored a hattrick.
“We have some young players doing really well lately,” the manager said at his pre-match press conference. “They spend time with us. John will be in the squad tomorrow with us.
“Those young players need to get rewarded with the performances they have with the Under-21s and that’s really good.
“What is important for Tayo [Adaramola]: it’s good that we have him back and being around the first-team, training with the first-team. We’re looking at what will be his next challenge.
“At the minute, the focus is about him finding his fitness again and spending time with the first-team.”
The promotion of young players is part of Vieira’s overarching strategy to promote youth, exemplified in the performances of Michael Olise, Marc Guéhi and more last season.
“Those young players need to be surrounded by experience to allow them to make the kinds of mistakes to grow,” he explained. “But we are working in a different way to Chelsea.
“Last year we did really well in bringing those young players with good potential, and we have a good structure at this football club to allow them to become better players, and to allow us to compete in the Premier League.
“Hopefully we will keep that going and competing. It’s all about competing in the Premier League.”
One of Palace most experienced players is Wilfried Zaha, who Vieira hopes can continue in the fine form that he has started this season – and who, despite turning 30 this season, the manager knows can remain at the top of his game.
“We know the type of player we have in the football club,” he said. “We know how important he is for us and he’s in good form.
“He is performing well, scoring goals and we play football that suits him as well. He has good players around him that put him in good positions to score goals.
“He’s playing well out of possession and he’s enjoying his football. If we manage to keep that enthusiasm from him for the end of the season that will be good for us and for him.
“Wilfried is a young 30-year-old. Since I came here, he’s missed one or two training sessions and he’s fit. He’s a young 30-year-old.”