Roy Hodgson has discussed the prospects of Crystal Palace getting the better of Chelsea when the two sides face off in a Premier League fixture on Wednesday.

The Eagles will travel to Stamford Bridge and when asked about the threats posed by the Blues, the former England manager responded: “When you look at their squad and their players, I think most teams will look at it and think this is going to be a very, very tough game because they’ve got some very, very good players.

“The thing about form is it could just be that some of the players are finding their feet at the club and playing as well as their reputations would suggest. Football, at any level, is not rocket science.

“If you are a very, very rich club and you have the ability to bring in players who actually cost a lot of money, that maybe other clubs can’t afford, sooner or later there’s a chance those players will start performing in the way that everyone expects them to perform.”

On the team’s injury news, he said: “I don’t know [at this stage]. [Sam] Johnstone I’m sure won’t be [available]. [Odsonne] Edouard would have to surprise me – it doesn’t look like that’s the situation at the moment.

“But to be fair, in those areas at the moment, we’re doing well enough. The boys have come in and played in place of them and are doing well enough.

“I don’t think there would be any reason for me to bemoan the fact they [Johnstone and Edouard] are not there, because if they were there, that might mean that [Dean] Henderson and [Jean-Philippe] Mateta didn’t play. At the moment, those two fully deserve to play.”