Patrick Vieira has provided a fresh injury update on his Crystal Palace squad ahead of their Premier League game against Burnley this weekend.
The Eagles came through their midweek victory over Watford unscathed, though will still be without two players due to injury.
Vieira confirmed that Nathan Ferguson remains sidelined after he picked up a hamstring issue during a behind closed doors friendly against Portsmouth last month.
He is expected to remain sidelined for at least two more weeks though Palace will have Joel Ward back a little earlier.
The full-back has been first-choice on the right side for the Eagles this season but picked up a groin injury ahead of the game against Chelsea last week that ruled him out.
Vieira said that Ward's injury was only a minor one and that he would be back in training next week should things go well, leaving him open for contention for Palace's fifth-round FA Cup tie against Stoke on Tuesday.
Nathaniel Clyne played instead against the Blues and at Vicarage Road on Wednesday evening, and now looks set to do so again when Sean Dyche's Clarets pitch up in south London on Saturday.
Burnley are currently 18th in the Premier League table but have a game in hand over Newcastle above them in 17th and could leapfrog them with a win at Selhurst Park.
The relegation contenders have had an up-turn in form of late and won their last two games to lessen the pressure on their shoulders, beating Brighton 3-0 at the Amex last weekend before leaving Antonio Conte upset after beating Spurs 1-0 at Turf Moor in midweek.
“[Burnley] are in a really good period,” Vieira said in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
“They won the last two games and didn’t concede a goal. They are a really strong team to play against, really organised and they don’t give you many chances.
“What will be really important for us is to play as well as we can. We know their strengths, we know where we can hurt them as well, so what will be really important is for us to respect our game plan, play with tempo and create chances.”
But Vieira said despite the position Burnley currently find themselves in the league table, he was not paying much attention to where they sat.
“The table is what it is but we don’t want to have a game plan regarding a team’s position,” he explained. “We have a really clear idea of how we want to play the game.
“It’s about expressing ourselves on the day, creating chances and taking our chances. We have to improve game after game, and I think we are in a really good place.
“Now what I want from the players is to keep that momentum going, to be clinical and to keep winning football matches.”
