Jairo Riedewald back in from the cold at Crystal Palace and can use Aaron Wan-Bissaka as inspiration

Stepping up: Jairo Riedewald will make a very rare start against Brighton
Getty Images
Jack Rosser @JackRosser_14 December 2019

Jairo Riedewald will be named in a Premier League starting XI for the first time in 659 days when Crystal Palace host rivals Brighton on Monday night.

The Dutchman, signed during Frank de Boer's brief tenure, is set to feature as cover for Patrick van Aanholt and Jeffrey Schlupp after receiving his first Premier League minutes since April 2018 off the bench at Watford.

Riedewald, an Eredivisie title winner with Ajax from whom he joined Palace after contesting the 2017 Europa League Final against Manchester United, has remained utterly professional despite being pushed to the very fringes of the squad while those playing week in, week out continue to punch above their weight and maintain manager Roy Hodgson's faith.

Now, though, Riedewald - naturally a midfielder - has the chance to stake his claim.

“We haven’t been unimpressed by Jairo Riedewald these last two years, it’s just he’s been competing for a place in the centre of midfield, where we’ve been at our very strongest," said Hodgson.

In Pictures | Watford vs Crystal Palace | 07/12/2019

1/20

“It’s not been easy for him to break in and wrest the shirt from the person who is doing well to keep it. Our results over the last couple of years, by our standards, have been pretty good.

“Now, if he plays left-back, he’ll have another opportunity in a totally different position to show what a good footballer he is.

“There’s no doubt that he has a lot of football skills and we’re hoping he brings those to bear. As a good footballer, we’re hoping he’ll be able to adapt to a different position."

Hodgson has had to call on others to adapt to new positions as Palace work through a string of defensive issues.

Midfielder Schlupp was already having to play at left-back before his hip injury, which it is feared could leave him sidelined for some time, while central defender Martin Kelly is covering for Joel Ward at right-back.

The Palace boss hopes he has a squad versatile enough to fill every hole and held up Aaron Wan-Bissaka as an example of what players can achieve.

The Eagles' academy graduate, sold to Manchester United for £50million over the summer, started out as a winger before redefining himself as a right-back and is now one of the most promising in the League at that position.

“People do it all the time," said Hodgson. "Aaron Wan-Bissaka adapted brilliantly to become a top star at right-back. He started his career as a right winger. So there’s no reason why people can’t change."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT