Aston Villa v Palace

Villa Park, Thursday 3.00pm

Mile Jedinak

Team news

Crystal Palace will be without influential captain Mile Jedinak who is on international duty with Australia in the Asia Cup.

Marouane Chamakh is still out with a thigh injury and striker Glenn Murray has returned to the club following his loan spell at Reading but is not yet eligible to play.

Aston Villa's Fabian Delph is suspended following his red card against Sunderland. Kieran Richardson and Gabby Agbonlahor are available after completing bans and Joe Cole could be selected after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Tom Cleverley (foot) and Ciaran Clark (back) are doubts but Nathan Baker and Ashley Westwood (both knee), Libor Kozak (leg) are all missing.

Villa: (from) Guzan, Given, Hutton, Lowton, Okore, Clark, Vlaar, Herd, Cissokho, Sanchez, N'Zogbia, Cole, Cleverley, Richardson, Grealish, Bacuna, Weimann, Benteke, Robinson, Agbonlahor.

Palace: (from) Speroni, Mariappa, Dann, Delaney, Ward, McArthur, Fryers, Ledley, Puncheon, Zaha, Bolasie, Hangeland, Doyle, Campbell, Hennessey, Thomas, Bannan, Kelly, Gayle.

Quotes

Keith Millen

"The chairman told me to prepare for Aston Villa. We have to stay focused. If the deal for Alan is done then great. If not, we carry on. That is as much information as I have.

"We've told the players and staff that and we'll continue with our work. We were discussing the QPR game in training, which was a terrific response from the players after Neil leaving, and we've moved on now.

"They've been through it, the lads, a few times now. They see the speculation on the TV and get asked. There's the usual player banter, but they were in a good frame of mind this morning.

"They had a good rest yesterday and were in again today. They are a resilient group. We've started doing our work for Villa, and we have Dover on Sunday.

"I said to the chairman I can do the job. He knows me well enough and realises that now. We've not had that discussion since."

Yannick Bolasie

"It’s a bit strange, to be honest. It’s not a situation we haven’t been before either, though. I guess in a way it feels a bit normal.

"I found out on Saturday when I got into training and then Keith Millen came in and told us the gaffer had cleared his office. For me, he was all right, to be honest. I can’t speak for everyone else, but he was all right.

"I don’t know what sort of manager we need, we haven’t really spoken about that. We’ll just have to wait and see, of course. I think if we play like we did at QPR, getting back to basics, we’ll start getting results.

"Obviously, we may have a couple of players coming to the club and we still have Glenn Murray to come back from his loan, plus Marouane Chamakh. It will be interesting. I would like to think Palace will be busy (in the transfer market)."

Julian Speroni

"It’s always hard and sad to lose a manager. We were going through a tough time. Even though the performances weren’t that bad, probably we deserved out of the Aston Villa game, the Sunderland game and Stoke City.

"Away from home, some of the performances were quite good, like Tottenham and Swansea City. For some reason, the home form hasn’t been good enough. It’s a bit confusing and strange at the moment.

"It is hard to say what we need. Hopefully the chairman can find the right person. I don’t mind who comes in. Whoever comes in with that spirit going forward and try to do things right, they are going to be welcome."

Mile Jedinak

"We know everyone is going to be behind us, the squad, the team, the management. I think it will be a step in the right direction. The fans need to keep singing, stay positive and stay strong. We know that whoever it is or whatever it is, we still go out there all together as one.

"That’s the only way we’re going to stay up and start getting results. The support at QPR was fantastic and first class. Whatever happens in the coming days and coming weeks, the weeks while I’m away, just keep backing the boys please."

Aston Villa - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
13th	19	5	6	8	21

Full league table

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
02/12/2014	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 1	Aston Villa
12/04/2014	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 0	Aston Villa
26/12/2013	League	Aston Villa	0 - 1	Crystal Palace
24/02/2010	FA Cup	Aston Villa	3 - 1	Crystal Palace
14/02/2010	FA Cup	Crystal Palace	2 - 2	Aston Villa

All time results

Last meeting

Palace 0-1 Aston Villa

Tuesday December 02 2014

Palace: Speroni, Hangeland, Dann, Ward, Kelly (Puncheon, 89), McArthur, Bolasie, Jedinak, Zaha, Gayle (Campbell, 45), Chamakh

Subs not used: Fryers, Boateng, Hennessey, Bannan, Thomas

Bookings: Bolasie, Campbell

Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Cissokho, Clark, Okore, Cole (Sanchez, 9), Cleverley (Richardson, 89), Westwood, Agbonlahor, Benteke, Weimann

Goals: Benteke (32)

Subs not used: Given, N'Zogbia, Lowton, Herd, Grealish

Bookings: Weimann, Clark