Crystal Palace will not sell stars in January as Leicester plan to reignite Andros Townsend interest

Roy Hodgson needs all of his big names in the battle against relegation

Townsend is expected to stay at Palace

Crystal Palace will not sell their stars in January, with Leicester City expected to reignite their interest in winger Andros Townsend.

The Eagles have got off to a historically bad start to their Premier League season but believe they can still avoid relegation.

And they think that the only way to do that is by keeping their best players.

Townsend was the subject of interest from the Foxes in the summer but Palace’s asking price was too high for the former Premier League champions. Boss Craig Shakespeare has been left short by the farcical failure to complete the paperwork on Portugal midfielder Adrien Silva, who is now unable to play club football until January, but they are also keen on a wide option.

Palace will show restraint with Wilfried Zaha though the winger is desperate to return from injury against Chelsea this weekend.

Boss Roy Hodgson is well aware of the importance of the Ivorian forward to his side but with Christian Benteke already a long-term absentee is reluctant to risk aggravating an injury.

Zaha is one of a number of options that have been considered over the international break to solve Palace’s striker crisis, with Connor Wickham – Palace’s only senior centre-forward other than Benteke – also recovering from injury.