Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner is confident the goals will keep coming for Eddie Nketiah ahead of his return to the Emirates Stadium against Crystal Palace tomorrow night.
England striker Nketiah came through Arsenal’s academy and spent seven years at the club before making the switch from north to south London in the summer for a reported fee of £25m.
However, he struggled at Selhurst Park, scoring just once in 13 appearances.
Nketiah made a good impression after coming on as a second-half substitute in Sunday’s 3-1 win over rivals Brighton and Glasner hopes he can kick-start his Palace career.
He said: “He is very ambitious and works hard. He was thrown back with an injury and during his injury the team started winning games and started playing better and better.
“He had a really positive impact on Brighton along with Daiichi Kamada because we struggled a lot at the start of the second half, we didn’t push the ball. Once they came in, they worked really hard and we got the game more under control.
“He got an assist for (Ismaila) Sarr and had a big chance himself.
“You can see that maybe he doesn’t have the highest confidence and that’s perfectly normal when you’re attacking because he wants to score. My experience is that if a player works as hard as he does, then he will get his reward.
“It will be a big story if he scores at the Emirates.”
Adam Wharton remains out with a groin injury and Daniel Munoz is suspended, while Eberetsi Eze will be assessed ahead of Crystal Palace’s EFL Cup quarter-final at Arsenal 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Xnn6gwbDMm
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Nketiah will play a role tomorrow
While he did not commit to starting Nketiah in tomorrow’s EFL Cup quarter-final, Glasner said he would feature, adding: “I don’t know who will play and who will start. We have two or three decisions to make. We don’t know if Ebs (Eze) can also play with one or two players a bit tired – we still have time to decide. I’m sure Eddie will get minutes at his old stadium.”
Palace have overcome a slow start to the season and are unbeaten in five games.
The Eagles are full of confidence, but Glasner accepts a trip to Arsenal is always a difficult task.
“We still have a lot of games to play but it would be a great achievement for all of us to win at the Emirates,” he said.
“It’s not a place Crystal Palace win every year so it would be a big achievement.
“It will be a tough and intense 90 minutes, but we are confident, we feel ready, we are in good shape and we are in a good mood in the dressing room.
“Everything we need before a game we have, but the most important thing is to show it tomorrow on the pitch.”
Palace will certainly be without Adam Wharton, while Daniel Munoz is suspended.
