French players make up a significant portion of the overall makeup of the Premier League, and given the events which took place in Paris last Friday, the emotional mindset of those players will rightly be considered a concern of managers throughout the country.
However, manager Alan Pardew, in his recent comments to the media, believes that Palace’s French players will be in the right frame of mind for the match against Sunderland on Monday evening.
Yohann [Cabaye] played [against England] and he was a bit lost, as you would imagine with the events.
Whether it was the right decision to play the game, certainly I thought it was a moving experience. The FA did a super job.
We have had conversations with our French players to make sure their nearest and dearest were safe and well, which I can report they are. They were affected by the tragic events but I think they will all be okay to play on Monday and perform to the best of their abilities.
Defender Martin Kelly was in Paris when the attacks took place, but Pardew said he has no concerns over picking him if needed.
I haven’t seen a reaction that worries me with Martin. We are all affected by an incident like that. It’s the first time terrorism has been involved with football and this is an unwelcome entry for us.
In addition to having Cabaye and his other French players at his disposal, Pardew also revealed that the squad will be bolstered by the return of a pair of injured players.
Marouane Chamakh and Connor Wickham will be involved as well as everybody who played against Liverpool. So we have a strong hand.
A win on Monday at home against the struggling Black Cats could see the Eagles climb as high as fifth in the table, so the return of Chamakh and Wickham is welcome news indeed for Palace supporters. Kickoff for the contest is 2000 local time.
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