Alan Pardew backs Crystal Palace target men to trouble Arsenal
Friday 15 April 2016 17:27, UK
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew has backed Emmanuel Adebayor and Connor Wickham to cause problems for Arsenal in Sunday's Premier League clash.
West Ham striker Andy Carroll scored a seven-minute hat-trick in the 3-3 draw with the Gunners last weekend and Pardew believes his target men can cause similar problems for Arsene Wenger's defence.
Live Ford Super Sunday
"Players of that size, power and pace can terrorise defences," said Pardew, who will be unable to call upon the injured Dwight Gayle this weekend.
"That's what we want Connor and Ade to do for us. Connor's had some terrific games for us but just not enough of them.
"We've really missed his presence at times. We took Adebayor in the last window because we were struggling to get Connor on the pitch.
Trending
- World Darts Championship: Clemens, Lukeman in action on day five LIVE!
- Transfer Centre LIVE! 'Saudi could offer Rashford way out of Man Utd'
- The Friedkin Group complete Everton takeover
- Five years of Arteta: Arsenal transformed but what's next?
- World Darts Championship schedule: Smith in action on Thursday
- Usyk vs Fury 2: Start time, ring walks, undercard and odds
- Lawson confirmed as Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate for 2025
- Celtic consider move to re-sign Arsenal left-back Tierney
- Tottenham vs Man Utd: We'll see - Amorim on Rashford featuring vs Spurs
- Papers: Gravenberch set to stay at Liverpool amid Real Madrid links
"And Ade played well against Everton when he came on, so now Connor's got competition, he's got to stay fit."
Pardew managed Carroll at Newcastle and echoed West Ham boss Slaven Bilic's recent comments that target men must work hard to stay in peak condition.
"I had Andy Carroll and I heard Slaven saying last week that the big guys, they need to really focus on looking after themselves," added Pardew.
"They are both heavy and aggressive players, who are quick, and that does make them more prone to injuries than most players.
"So they need to protect themselves in training sometimes and certainly protect themselves when they get injured, and look after themselves.
"We are educating Conor on that front. It's been stop-start with injuries for Connor and he hasn't had a run at it.
"We've been pleased with his progress and next year if we can stop this run of injuries he gets we can have a good player on our hands."
Palace are unbeaten in their last three matches and lie 11 points clear of the relegation zone going into the weekend, although they have played a game more than Sunderland and Newcastle, who occupy the final two relegation places.
Watch Arsenal v Crystal Palace on Super Sunday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 HD at 3:30pm, after Leicester v West Ham.
