RICHARDS' POT SHOT

Palace star's box set plan to cope with a hectic spell

- BY NEIL McLEMAN

CHRIS RICHARDS is watching reruns of Harry Potter to help his recovery during Crystal Palace’s stupefying spell of winter fixtures.

And the USA defender has called for the reintroduction of a mid-season break to shield Premier League players from injury.

Eagles boss Oliver Glasner has branded English football “irresponsible” and “nonprofessional” for scheduling four games in eight days for the FA Cup holders next month.

After beating Brentford, the Austrian gave his players two days off before their Conference League tie with AZ Alkmaar on Thursday.

And former Bayern Munich centre-back Richards said with a smile: “I will do nothing at all. We're definitely taking our days off seriously, because we need to rest and just stay off my feet.

“I'm actually restarting the Harry Potter series and also there's a show called Welcome to Derry - it’s like a spin-off of the IT scary movies.”

But Palace's fixture pileup this season is frightening with an unlucky 13 games still left this year after already playing 17.

Richards said: “It's a consequence of how well we've been playing, but four games in eight days is a lot.

“I agree with the manager about player welfare.