At the start of the season the fans would have looked at the Palace squad and seen very few gaps. Most agree that a 20 goal a season striker would be ideal but Pardew could have been forgiven thinking a strike force that included Connor Wickham, Dwight Gayle, Frazer Campbell, Marouane Chamakh and Patrick Bamford would probably yield a few goals. The rest of the squad looked short of a back-up left back to Pape Sourè and maybe a centre back short. Other than that, the squad looked strong. However, injuries and suspensions over the festive period have shown there are some pretty large gaps all over the squad. Recent injuries to Yohan Cabaye, Yannick Bolasie, Bakary Sako, Gayle and Wickham have shone a light on the lack of alternate options Palace have going forward, while Damian Delaney's injury has exposed a lack of back up in defence. An injury to Scott Dann or Brede Hangelaand would leave the defence horribly exposed. Palace have Chelsea up next and with little chance of bringing in reinforcements in time, it could turn into a long afternoon.
