Team news?
We had a couple of injuries this week. But again, we will have to wait until tomorrow to see if they will be okay. James McArthur we know is not going to be part of the squad because he didn't start training yet with the squad. Then the rest of them will have to wait until tomorrow to see if they will take part of training in the morning or not.
You've been nominated as Premier League manager of the season and your first season in the Premier League. How does that feel?
It's always good to be nominated for this kind of award. To be nominated, I think everything has to go well. The players have to perform and it's good for showing what you achieve in the season.
Mitchell and Gallagher both nominated for young player of the season, how important have they been?
I think both of them have been really good this season. They've been playing week in and week out. They've been performing really well. And both of them have been called up to England so that is a massive step forward. I think it's good for the club as well because that shows that we've been doing some good stuff this season and to have two players and players like that nominated is positive for the club.
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Can you speak about Conor Gallagher's future at all? Is it up to the player or Chelsea?
It's up to Chelsea and of course to the player. We know that we will have him for a year and we were and we are really pleased with his contribution. I think he's been terrific to the football club. And then after the season, he will go back to Chelsea and the decision will be Chelsea and Conor’s to make
What else do you think you need to do to get Crystal Palace into a top 10 team next season? Which areas of the team do you want to strengthen?
I think first it’s about finishing these three games as best as we can. And then after we have to analyse the parts of the game that we need to improve. I think at the moment it is not the right time to really talk about it and what we want to do of course is to challenge ourselves. Players want to challenge themselves to improve and we have to work well and we have to be ambitious but we will summarise the season at the right time.
Want to keep Wilfried Zaha?
When you talk about Crystal Palace you talk about Wilfried Zaha. He's been at this club and he's been doing fantastically well. And again as a manager, of course, I would love to keep him but he as well needs to want to be here and this season I think he showed to everybody what this football club means to him because he's been performing well and scoring goals. I believe that he can still take himself to a different level and help the team to grow.
What did you make of Villa’s performance against Liverpool?
It was really close but at the same time, I'm not surprised because when you look at the talent that they have, obviously they're not in the position where I believe they should be. There's some real talent in the team and we're expecting a challenging game.
What can you learn from the game earlier on this season?
That was one of our really tough games at home, and they started the game really well, the first half, it wasn’t possible for us and we found it difficult to play. They defended quite really well as a team and we couldn't pass the ball around and we couldn't create chances. It became a really frustrating game for us. So we know what to expect. We know how good they can be. So we will want to play well and do our best and, for it to be a good test for us as a team as well.
What have you made of Steve Gerrard?
Straightaway, I think he had an impact on how to organise the team and he had some really good results. But you know, Villa, I think is a big club in this country and I think it will be a big challenge. And hopefully, he'll be successful. When you're looking at players that we used to play against who have decided to go into management, you wish him all the best and hopefully, he’ll be successful.
Coutinho's permanent deal a good bit of business?
It's good. There are players in the team that I believe have the quality to take Villa to a different dimension. This is a massive statement for what they will want to achieve in the future.
Would it be a statement if you can finish above them?
It’s not just about finishing above them it is about us finishing the season well and looking at ourselves and saying that we maximised the potential of the team and we are where we want it to be. So it would be a really good achievement for the football club to finish in the top ten. With the summer that we went through and then after that, it is about how can we grow from that? How can we improve ourselves? How can we try to bring those couple of players to improve the squad?
Would bringing Conor Gallagher back be the best bit of business?
I don't want to talk about Conor, I think a lot has been said already. And he's been playing, I believe, his best football in this football club that allowed him to go to England. And it will be important for him to ask questions about what will be the next step for him and the next step may be at Chelsea because he has to go back and see how things will go for him. But of course, we are and I'm really pleased with the year that we spent together. And he’s been really good for us. We will wish him good luck if he goes back to Chelsea and if there is a possibility to bring him back we will definitely talk about it.
Michael Olise deal?
There is nothing to say about that. I think Michael is still growing as a player. I think it shows that he has really interesting potential. He’s been playing well in some of the games but, on the other side, there is still a lot of his game that you need to improve to be a Premier League player, but we have the structure in place to allow him to grow as a player and to improve himself.
