Not on the bench today, nor got any game time in the under 23s, as Kelly and Clyne did.

Something isn't right. No mention of an injury.

I liked him whenever I saw him play at Watford and was pleased to see him sign for us.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

Hes running non stop up and down Mount Everest in preparation of taking over from Gallagher next season

What's his purpose? Another week on the bench and behind Luka of all people...

At this point, I trust PV's judgment. We have a bunch of new signings, and all of them except for Hughes have played major roles for us. If he is the only newcomer who isn't an impact player, it's still a good return.

That being said, I at least want to see him in a match or two to see how he fits in. Especially with McArthur being out indefinitely.

2017 Feb. (Van Aanholt) Palace 1 - 0 Middlesboro
2018 Jan. (Sako) Palace 1 - 0 Burnley
2019 May (Batshuayi, Batshuayi, OG, Van Aanholt, Townsend) Palace 5 - 3 Bournemouth
2020 Feb. (Van Aanholt) Palace 1 - 0 Newcastle

Ummm what's that meant to mean? He's also behind JMac, Conor, Kouyate and probably Jairo it would seem.

Luka was fine I thought.

As pointed out elsewhere Hughes is struggling for pitch time very probably because of the competition ahead of him. An added wrinkle here is that it is possible we are currently in a scenario where PV is looking for leadership as well and that makes one of Luka or Macca prime candidates for selection - as our two natural leaders.

There's nothing necessary about this of course. Kouyate too I suspect counts as one of the leadership group and could take the role. iirc he does - or at least has -captain Senegal But for all out success right now we are still in a transitional stage and too much change to the core of the side could imbalance things.

Perhaps this counts more with a view to what happens in the next couple of transfer windows than on the pitch itself. I'm going to be surprised if the majority of the old stagers whose contracts are up in the summer aren't offered renewals. Dougie in particular will have seen enough Palace history to be aware of the value of keeping players who are committed to the cause in the group. Team spirit is one of those incalculably important intangibles that work in your favour and having a core group who buy into that is critical.