Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner is hopeful an ankle injury suffered by Adam Wharton on Monday night will not rule his key midfielder out of the FA Cup final.
Wharton was the best player on show in the 1-1 Premier League draw with Nottingham Forest – in front of England manager Thomas Tuchel – until he had to go off with half-an-hour remaining.
“I hope it’s not that serious,” said Glasner. “It’s a little bit sore, he twisted it a bit but hopefully it’s nothing serious.”
Glasner was delighted his side proved they were not only focused on their Wembley date with Manchester City in 12 days.
They went ahead through Eberechi Eze’s penalty after Tyrick Mitchell was felled by a combination of Nicolas Dominguez and Matz Sels in the area.
Referee Andy Madley did not initially give the penalty but changed his mind after a look at the replay, booking goalkeeper Sels for his troubles.
Eze had missed his last penalty, while Jean-Philippe Mateta also failed to score one in the semi-final against Aston Villa.
But the England attacker confidently buried this one, stuttering run-up and all.
However, Forest hit back immediately when Murillo stuck out a leg to divert a Neco Williams shot into the net.
Palace could have won it late on but Eze clipped the crossbar from 20 yards.
“I was pleased with the desire to win the game,” added Glasner. “We missed a couple of chances, especially at the end.
“We weren’t efficient enough but the players showed they 100 per cent wanted to win this game. I’m delighted we scored a penalty after missing two.”
Forest’s top-five bid may no longer be in their hands, but with distinctly-winnable games against Leicester and West Ham to come, all eyes could yet be on a final-day shootout with Chelsea for a Champions League spot.
“It was a very intense game, with lots of chances. I’m proud we’ve been able to improve,” said boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
“We need a lot of character, a lot of belief. We are pushing the players physically and mentally because we are in a battle no one expected us to be in.
“The schedule is very hard. It is a big fight we are involved in and we need characters.”
Murillo also seemed to pull up injured, but Nuno added: “We’ll assess him. Hopefully it’s nothing.”
As for whether Murillo meant his slightly-fortuitous goal, Nuno said: “I think he just wanted to touch the ball. Sometimes they go in.”
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