LEIPZIG, Germany — Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner said the “final decision” on defender Chris Richards’ fitness for the UEFA Conference League final will be made on Wednesday, with the with the United States international recovering from an ankle injury less than three weeks from the World Cup.
Glasner said last week that Richards had torn two ligaments in his ankle and would be 50/50 to be involved on Wednesday.
He suffered the initial injury in Palace’s 2-2 draw with Brighton in the closing weeks of the Premier League season.
ESPN’S Jeff Carlisle has previously reported that Richards’ injury would not affect his World Cup hopes and was set to be named in coach Mauricio Pochettino’s final 26-man party later on Tuesday.
Read more:USMNT’s Chris Richards tears ankle ligaments ahead of World Cup
Palace take on Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday night in Glasner’s last game in charge at the club.
Richards trained on Tuesday but Glasner said the final decision on his involvement and that of midfielder Adam Wharton, who was forced off in Palace’s final day defeat to Arsenal, will be taken on the day of the final.
“I won’t tell you if they [Richards and Wharton] can start or not, but they were available today in training.” Glasner told a news conference.
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“Yeah, we’ve still said when we end the training 36 hours to the start of the game with medical department, we work hard until late in the night and we’ll start tomorrow, but at the end we will nominate the starting 11 who is 100% fit.
“So if we talk to them tomorrow morning again and if the player doesn’t feel 100% fit or I have a bit of concerns, then they don’t start.
“But the positive thing is that they could make the training without big issues and of course they still have pain, but I think many players are feeling some pain after such a long season and that everybody wants to participate, but the final decision will be taken tomorrow.”
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Richards captained the USMNT in their most recent friendly against Portugal and is one of Pochettino’s key men going into a home World Cup.
The center back missed the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with a hamstring injury.
The U.S. begins its tournament against Paraguay on June 13 before taking on Australia and Türkiye to close out their group stage.
