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Club captain Paddy McCarthy played for Palace's development side this week but won't be ready to face Everton.

Everton's Romelu Lukaku is fit to start despite taking a heavy blow in a collision with Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris last Sunday.

Fellow forward Arouna Kone, however, is facing knee surgery and could be sidelined for much of the season.
MATCH PREVIEW

Crystal Palace are getting close to the last-chance saloon already. Seven defeats in a row is not an attractive prospect to any potential new manager, but they need to get the situation sorted quickly otherwise it's going to be too late.

 There are not that many leading candidates out there, probably because of what a difficult job it will be. They will inherit Palace's 16 summer signings, most of whom were recruited in a rush and have very little Premier League experience.

I worry especially for the defence this weekend because Romelu Lukaku is the sort of player that will fancy bullying their backline. Keith Millen has got Palace playing some good stuff in patches, but they just can't seem to put the full performance together that they desperately need.

I saw them lose 4-1 at home to Fulham and that game summed up their season. They were very good in a 15-minute spell but just weren't able to carry it through. It was a similar situation when I commentated at Stoke in their second game of the season - they were leading at half-time and went on to lose.

In the predicament they are in, Roberto Martinez's Everton are one of the worst sides to face.

In the past, Martinez' sides have always been easy on the eye but equally liable to ship goals - Wigan conceded a league-high 73 goals en route to relegation last season.

Martinez has brought the attractive football the Latics were known for to Merseyside, but crucially he has inherited a ready-made, experienced back four that have not conceded a Premier League goal in exactly four hours.

That sound defence, married with the signings he has made like Lukaku and James McCarthy, have contributed to a fantastic start to the season.

Everton finished sixth last year and there is no reason why they can't do so again. All in all, a tough afternoon lies in store for Palace.
Crystal Palace's Adlene Guedioura is unavailable after breaking two ribs and puncturing a lung against West Brom.

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