Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira believes his first-team stars will be itching to feature in the Carabao Cup clash with Oxford following the club’s first win of the season.
Palace travel to the Sky Bet League One U’s on Tuesday evening on the back of Saturday’s deserved 3-1 Premier League victory over Aston Villa.
Vieira is eager to build momentum after dispatching Steven Gerrard’s Villa and intends to name a strong squad at the Kassam Stadium.
“After a performance like that every single one of them will want to play again,” said the Frenchman, whose team lost their top-flight opener to Arsenal before drawing at Liverpool.
“So it’s important to maintain that confidence, that belief, and the best way to do it is for the players to play games.
“We will compete, we want to go of course as far as we can (in the competition).
“When you look at the performances against Liverpool and Arsenal, we had good performances but we did not win those games.
“(Against Villa) we had a good performance and managed to win, so what’s important for us is to maintain that.”
The second-round tie is the first competitive fixture between the clubs since a second-tier clash on Boxing Day in 1998, which Palace won 3-1 thanks to goals from Craig Foster, Clinton Morrison and Lee Bradbury.
Oxford have finished fourth, sixth and eighth in their last three League One campaigns but currently sit 19th following one win from five matches.
