CRYSTAL PALACE: Pardew reveals the down side of being in an FA Cup semi-final

With a squad close to full fitness to choose from every player will be champing at the bit to make sure they are one of the starting 11, or at least on the bench.

After a good showing in the 2-0 Premier League defeat at Manchester United on Wednesday night Pardew admitted he had a selection headache.

“There were some decent performances on Wednesday and the selection of the team I’ll left until Saturday when I told the guys,” said Pardew.

“It’s a horrible job as a manager to tell people they can’t play in a semi-final of an FA Cup or they don’t make the bench so I was not looking forward to that.”

CRYSTAL PALACE: Love for the FA Cup is alive and kicking, says midfielder who should know...

The Eagles’ busy Premier League run-in over the past couple of weeks has left the Palace manager with little time to work on strategies.

Playing four games in 12 days will no doubt also test the players’ fitness, but Pardew is confident they will be fit and raring to go.

“The FA need to look at this because we all had to play that night because of the European rule we can’t play on European nights,” he said.

“The Premier League get fined for that and that’s something they perhaps need to renegotiate because it really impacts on those weeks where there’s no European football and we’re squeezing in games.

“This is our fourth game in 12 days and it’s a tough run when you’ve got a semi-final of the biggest game in this club’s history sine the play-off final.

“Myself and Quique Flores [Watford manager] probably haven’t had enough prep with the team and that’s what we probably would have liked.

“In terms of the energy levels of the players they’ll be fine and I think both teams will be fresh.”