Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner is looking forward to testing himself against former club captain Marc Guehi when his side face Manchester City on Wednesday night.
The England international moved to Pep Guardiola’s side from South London in the winter transfer window and now faces the side he lifted the FA Cup with one year ago for the first time.
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“Marc will be applauded and celebrated by the Palace fans, because he has done so well for Crystal Palace; he was our captain and was a big part in everything we achieved,” said Glasner about the reception the defender will receive from the travelling supporters at the Etihad Stadium.
“Besides this, he’s such a fantastic, humble and interested person, and that’s why he deserves all the credit.
“He visited our training ground a few weeks ago and we had a small, short talk about a few things. He didn’t tell us their secrets, but he knows everything about us.”
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A win for Glasner and his side will not only dent City’s Premier League title hopes further but move the squad closer to equalling their club record 53 points total, should they win all three of their remaining games.
“I talked to the players and said it would be nice if we could have a five in front of the points total for the second consecutive time,” said the Austrian coach.
“This would mean at least the second best season but playing 50% more games. Now, it is 44 points and this is more or less the average in the last eight years but playing 50% more games and a European final.
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“It shows how hard this group of players are working, how committed they are, and how they deal with setbacks we had during the season.
“We’re enjoying the final weeks of the season. We’re in good shape. Most of the squad is available, feeling well, and now we’re looking forward to four great games we have to play.”
And with a UEFA Conference League final to look forward to on 27th May, Glasner is in no doubt that his squad are fully-focused on domestic issues as well.
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“I said we have now two-and-a-half weeks to go for our big game, the final, but what are we doing with the three Premier League games in-between?” he said.
“My experience is that it’s not possible to switch off now for two weeks and then switch on two days before the final. I said [to them] if you don’t want to win tomorrow, let me know, because then we will stay in London.
But they all said; ‘No, we want to go there, show our best performance and we want to win’.
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“I always enjoy playing games against great teams and against great managers, you can always learn a lot from it, but on the other side, it’s not just playing against them, it’s also winning against them.”