Patrick Vieira plans to keep Crystal Palace’s attention focused on the next game

Patrick Vieira insists Crystal Palace will not allow their upcoming trip to Wembley to distract them ahead of Sunday’s match with Leicester.

The Eagles travel to King Power Stadium this weekend to play their penultimate fixture before an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea on Easter Sunday.

After an outstanding 3-0 win over Arsenal on Monday, Palace are ninth in the Premier League table and level on points with Leicester, who are 10th but with two games in hand.

“No, it is not in my thinking and not in the players’ thinking,” Vieira said when asked about Wembley.

“It will not have an impact on the starting XI I am going to choose. We have time to think about the FA Cup. The main focus is about Leicester and putting (out) the best squad to win the game.

“We try to find the best way to prepare for the game and the best way is to play well, perform well and of course if we manage to win it will give us more confidence (for Chelsea) but nothing will change.

“We are really excited about this semi-final but we will have time to think about it and prepare well after the Leicester game.”

Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes were in European action in midweek and Palace could find themselves with that luxury were they to win this season’s FA Cup.

Current rules ensure the FA Cup winners claim a place in the Europa League, but UEFA are drawing up proposals to reform the Champions League from the 2024-25 season.

It plans to reserve two places in Europe’s elite competition for clubs based on historic coefficient rather than league position in the previous campaign. It could theoretically mean one of England’s so-called big six being able to qualify for the Champions League by winning the FA Cup even though if Palace achieved that feat, it would only