Patrick Vieira is confident Conor Gallagher will earn a warm reception on his return to Selhurst Park and has urged the midfielder to keep ‘fighting’ in a bid to prove his worth to new Chelsea manager Graham Potter.
The 22-year-old made a stunning impact at Crystal Palace last season while on loan from Chelsea but returned to his parent club in the summer hoping to establish himself a regular starter in Thomas Tuchel’s midfield.
Things haven’t gone to plan for Gallagher, however, who was sent off during the early stages of the narrow win over Leicester and was given the runaround in a disastrous 3-0 defeat at Leeds United.
Gallagher has also lost his place in the senior England squad ahead of the World Cup and Vieira, who wanted to sign the player on a permanent basis in the summer, believes it’s up to Gallagher to show he can bounce back and impress his new boss Graham Potter.
He said: ‘I don’t have any doubt about the reception he will receive. It’s been challenging for him because he hasn’t played as much as he was expecting.
‘He has to keep fighting & showing the manager that he wants to get into the team.’
Potter will take charge of his first Premier League game on Saturday after the match against Liverpool was cancelled following the death of Queen Elizabeth.
‘We just look at what he has been doing at Brighton, and analysing the first game [Chelsea] played in the Champions League,’ said Vieira when asked what he could expect from Potter’s Chelsea.
‘Seeing if there is something we can take to allow ourselves to perform in a better way.
‘When a manager works well for a couple of years, he deserves a chance in one of the top teams.
‘When you look at his record in the last couple of years, he’s been doing fantastically well with Brighton and today he’s with Chelsea. “I wish him all the best – after the game on Saturday.’
He added: ‘Training has been challenging, because the last time we played a competitive game was quite a while ago. It was a challenge to keep the players focused.
‘But we are looking forward to the game. We will face one of the best teams in the Premier League and we will be ready for that.
‘We worked well in the last couple of weeks and we will be ready to compete.’
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