Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira says Will Hughes could start today against FA Cup opponents Southampton.

Vieira says Hughes could be among the starters as Palace kick-off their FA Cup campaign at home to Southampton.

"When I look at the last couple of weeks that he had in training, he deserves to have a chance," Vieira said at his pre-match press conference. “Tomorrow he will be one of the players that can start the game.

“[Sam Johnstone] has had a couple of setbacks with injuries, but he's been back in training with the team and he will be part of the squad tomorrow.

“Like always, I will put out a team that I really believe has a chance to win the game. I don't use the game to please players. Our objective is to go to the next round."

Palace reached the FA Cup semi-finals last season, but Vieira says his players have to focus on the match ahead of them rather than dreaming of Wembley – despite facing a struggling Southampton side rooted to the foot of the Premier League table.

“What worked well last year was taking it game-by-game," he explained. “Of course, we wanted to compete, to go as far as we could and we got to the semi-finals. It was a good experience for the team.

“This year, nothing changes. We don't take anything for granted. We know how difficult it will be. We will have to perform better than in our last home game to go through to the next round.

“The [players] all enjoyed the good run we had last year. The majority have been in the country for a long time so they knew how important the FA Cup is for the country and the club. I've been lucky to play in different countries, and the cup games are taken more seriously in this country than anywhere I have been.

“[Results] are always harsh because results are important in our industry, so the pressure [on Southampton] is really big. We have to manage and deal with it."