Roy Hodgson faced criticism and discontent from fans for his decision to substitute Eberechi Eze during the 1-0 FA Cup loss to Everton.
Despite a valiant effort from Crystal Palace, they were eliminated from the competition due to an exquisite free-kick from Andre Gomes.
The discontent from travelling fans escalated when Hodgson opted to bring off Eze, who is considered the team’s talisman. The decision sparked a chorus of “you don’t know what you’re doing” from the disappointed supporters.
Despite the backlash, Hodgson stood firm on his choice to substitute Eze, a move that added to the frustration of fans witnessing their team’s exit from the FA Cup.
He said: “I appreciate for the fans it is a long way to come. I would’ve been disappointed to see Eze come off as he is one of our best players but I would have been equally disappointed if he had played another 35 minutes, got injured and put himself out for Arsenal.
“In the last 30 minutes of the game we had three or four goal chances. I thought this was a day when we deserved better than a defeat.
“The major point for us is that we get home at 2am and at 12.30pm we play Arsenal on Saturday so that was our problem.
“I was able to at least spare three of the very important players for the weekend after 60 minutes and another couple after 70 minutes.
“We should be in a slightly better position to confront Arsenal because that will be a vitally-important game.”
Crystal Palace has exited the FA Cup in the third round for the fifth time in eight years. Despite this disappointing trend, manager Roy Hodgson is not making any excuses for his players.
He added: “It’s our own fault. If we had wanted to progress in the cup serenely we would have won the game at home.
“We didn’t, we drew 0-0 which forced us into a replay.”