Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner says ‘everything is on track’ for January signings after KuPS Conference League draw adds to congested schedule

The hosts appeared on course for automatic qualification when Christantus Uche’s exquisite fifth-minute finish lifted them into third place in the standings, but momentum shifted after the break as last season’s FA Cup winners conceded twice in three minutes, allowing Piotr Parzyszek and Ibrahim Cisse to turn the game around.

Justin Devenny’s late header – after the visitors were reduced to 10 men – restored parity, but Palace could not find a winner.

This was their 27th game of the season, but failure to win means Glasner’s side must now contest a two-legged play-off at the end of February, against either Bosnia’s Zrinjski or the Czech side Sigma Olomouc, with the draw taking place in January.

Highlights: Young Palace side denied top-eight spot as KuPS stage second-half fightback

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Glasner opted to make 11 changes to the team that lost 3-0 at home to Manchester City last weekend, with a trip to face Leeds United at Elland Road in the Premier League taking place just 48 hours after kick-off on Thursday.

Glasner has been vocal in the past week about the need for Palace to strengthen during the January transfer window, with the Palace boss having made the fewest number of changes to his starting line-up between league games this term.

When pressed on whether he had spoken with the Palace board about upcoming transfer plans, Glasner told TNT Sports: “We started to talk about this weeks ago because if we start now, it’s too late. Everything is already on track, and it’s just about getting the deals done.

“We know this, the club knows this, the board knows this. I don’t want to talk (too much) about it because if everybody knows, it just gets more expensive. Everything is on track. (Sporting director) Matt Hobbs and Steve (Parish) are really working hard to get these deals done.

“I trust in them, and it’s just to support the team. You saw today that they’re really hard-working, and we stay in four competitions. We want to stay in four. We also play at the Emirates with the best team (against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals next Tuesday), because we want to play many games.

“Therefore, we need one or two players and then, of course, with Ismaila Sarr coming back from AFCON and Dani Munoz in the middle of January (from injury), then it looks a little bit easier.”

Ward: Glasner will be banging on the door

Palace are enjoying their first European adventure so much that they want to do things the hard way, as Glasner later put it.

Having, in his words, seen his side “demoted” from the Europa League to play in the Conference League, they must take part in their second round of play-offs, having also done so in August to reach the league phase.

Ward laments ‘poor challenge’ as Antwi shown straight red

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Should they reach the final in Leipzig on May 27, they will have played 17 European matches, which will certainly place extra strain on Glasner’s modest resources.

Sixteen-year-old Joel Drakes-Thomas became the youngest Englishman to feature in Europe’s third-tier competition, with fellow teenagers Dean Benamar and George King also making senior debuts.

Former Palace defender Joel Ward believes that while the young debutants gave fine accounts of themselves, the draw only served to underline the need to provide Glasner with greater strength in depth heading into the second half of the campaign.

Ward told TNT Sports: “He’ll be banging on the door (of the owners) as he’ll want to bring in players to bolster this squad and give him a helping hand for the games that are to come. I think it’s important that they bring in players because it’s putting a lot of risk on the players who are there.

Devenny shows ‘sheer determination’ to draw Palace level with ‘terrific’ header

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“Palace are a team that tops the charts when it comes to a lack of changes (to the starting line-up), so it’s important they bring in some good quality to add to this group.

“These two extra games are just another challenge, and Glasner is not one to shy away from that. They are meticulous in the way that they prepare things.

“He has already said that they can’t do a lot of training because of the fixture schedule, so they are doing a little bit more in the analysis room and making sure to do that vital recovery.

“There were a lot of positives throughout the game, but it’s disappointing not to go through (automatically) in that top eight. There was an element of risk in the line-up he chose, but there would also have been risk had (Glasner) chose to play a full-strength side with the amount of games coming up and the number of injuries they have.”