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Sports News of Sunday, 1 November 2020

Source: goal.com

Ghana midfielder Schlupp happy to 'move around' for Crystal Palace

Jeffrey Schlupp has been dispatched in several positions for Crystal Palace Jeffrey Schlupp has been dispatched in several positions for Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace ace Jeffrey Schlupp reveals he has no problem with being deployed in any position on the pitch in the club's battle for Premier League honours.

From playing at left-back, left-central-midfield and as a striker in past seasons, the Ghana international has been used as a left-winger in a 4-4-2 system adopted by coach Roy Hodgson so far this season.

He has featured in five matches for The Eagles so far this term.

"I started off as a striker growing up," Schlupp said, as reported by his club's official website.

"I’ve played some games at left midfield as well but I’ve always said it: I’ll play anywhere as long as I’m playing. I don’t mind doing the work for the team.

"We obviously believe in our staff, our manager and his assistants and they have belief in us. They set us up to keep in a tight shape, in a 4-4-2 formation, and they believe in our counter-attacking ability.

"So we can keep a tight shape and then when we win it back we try to get the ball forward quickly to try and help those boys playing up front.

"When you have forward players like Wilf [Zaha], Michy [Batshuayi], Jordan [Ayew] and Christian [Benteke] playing up front for us, we don’t mind doing the work. We seem to do well playing on the counter and I believe the manager sets us up that way because he believes in us."

Palace, who have suffered from squad depletion by injury in recent times, are currently in happy times, having seen some major faces, including Ghana striker Jordan Ayew, re-join training after some time on the sidelines.

"We’ve always seemed to have these issues with injuries normally," Schlupp said.

"When I’ve been here, I’ve had some problems but most of the players are fit now and it’s nice to give the gaffer some headaches about picking the team.

"He said it to us as well: there are a lot of fit players trying to get into that team, so if anything, we’ve all got to up our performances to make sure we stay in the team."

Schlupp's fine form for Palace has earned him a Ghana national team recall ahead of a 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying double-header against Sudan in November.