Gallagher is the only one to lose from Chelsea's decision to not let on-loan Crystal Palace midfielder play in FA Cup semi-final, says Vieira

Patrick Vieira has expressed his belief that Conor Gallagher is the "only one who will lose" as a result of Chelsea's decision to prevent the on-loan Crystal Palace midfielder to play in their FA Cup semi-final.

Palace and Chelsea are due to face off for a place in the FA Cup final in a London derby clash at Wembley on April 17.

The Eagles sent a request to Chelsea for Gallagher to be allowed special dispensation to play, despite current FA rules preventing loan players from featuring against their parent clubs, which was denied last week.

The terms of Gallagher's loan deal also stipulate that he cannot line up against Chelsea, but they could have given the green light for changes to be made.

Vieira cannot understand why they didn't, because the midfielder will now miss out on the chance to play in one of the biggest games on the domestic calendar, which he feels would have been a deserved reward for his performances throughout the 2021-22 campaign.

“It’s not the best rule because the only one who will lose is Conor," the Palace boss said in his latest press conference.

"There’s a semi-final, it’s a really exciting game about how you will manage yourself and prepare yourself to play that game, then there’s playing that kind of game and the importance of it.

“It’s an experience the player is missing and I’m disappointed for him. He has played all the games so far and if there’s somebody who deserves to be in the semi-final, it’s him because of his performances, so I’m disappointed he won’t be able to play.

“The decision for Chelsea to send him on loan is to play these kind of games. We have as a group an opportunity to play an important game and that game would have given him more confidence and belief. We could lose but