Cabaye and Wickham injuries could hinder Pardew´s FA Cup plans

Alan Pardew has revealed that Connor Wickham and Yohan Cabaye are injury doubts for Crystal Palace as they prepare for next weekend’s FA Cup final.

Palace manager Pardew rested a number of key players in their Premier League season-ending 4-1 defeat at Southampton on Sunday, including Scott Dann and Wilfried Zaha.

Joe Ledley has already been ruled out of the final against Manchester United, with Pardew set for a testing week as he finalises his plans for Wembley.

“We rested Scotty Dann. Wickham and Cabaye were rested with knocks, we’re worrying with them. Zaha was rested too,” he told a post-match news conference at St Mary’s Stadium.

“We’re waiting on them, but you find that injuries seem to clear up on FA Cup final week!”

Goals from Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle, Ryan Bertrand and Steven Davis put the Eagles to the sword as Julian Speroni matched Palace’s record number of appearances for a goalkeeper.

Speroni’s decision-making let Palace down on a number of occasions, but Pardew was keen to deflect attention away from the Argentine veteran.

“The result didn’t really reflect the game, I was a bit disappointed with the referee,” he said.

“Pelle looked round after he scored as if he was expecting a foul to be given and the penalty was a foul outside the box.

“I’m not suggesting we should have won, but it should have been a lot closer.

“I wanted Jules to match John Jackson’s record and I’m sure that when he breaks it he’ll want a better result than that.”