Ghana midfielder Jeffery Schlupp earns plaudit from Crystal Place boss after explosive display in Manchester City stalemate

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has showered praises on Ghanaian midfielder Jeffery Schlupp following his outstanding performance in the side’s goalless draw against Manchester City.

The 29-year-old who has been impressive in the ongoing season for Palace lasted the entire duration to help his side earn an all-important draw against the Premier League powerhouse on home turf.

Schlupp, Connor Gallagher and Cheikhou Kouyate produced a strong midfield display to stop the fluid playing City from getting to their best.

“Him, Cheikhou [Kouyaté] and Jeff [Schlupp] as well, the three midfielders maybe need a couple more days off than everyone else! They ran a lot… and didn’t give up, and this is a really good sign for us,” he said after the game.

“Today we showed as a team we’re improving. One of the challenges was to accept that at times we won’t have possession so we need to work hard to get the ball back. If we manage to understand that [in every game] and can be consistent we will improve.

“I can’t stop him! I don’t want to stop him. This is the energy that pushes the fans to be behind us and the fans were excellent. The last 10 minutes were really difficult but the fans and support made it easy to manage the last 10 minutes. Conor, this is his strength and this is why we love him.”

Schlupp, who has featured 23 times and scoring 3 goals in the Premier League is expected to return to the Black Stars team for the game against Nigeria next week in the World Cup play-off.