Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira says James McArthur will be in his squad to face Brighton on Saturday.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the Palace manager confirmed that the influential midfielder will be named in his first matchday squad this weekend since returning from long-term injury, and also provided a positive update on defender Nathan Ferguson.

Vieira said: “The good news is that we had Nathan [Ferguson], who trained for the last couple of weeks with the team without any steps back.

“We have Macca, who's in a really good place as well. Macca will be part of the squad for tomorrow. He's been working hard and every single training session that he had with the team he was feeling better and better. Physically he's in a good place."

The manager believes that, despite a challenging fixture list in recent weeks, Palace must moderate their mindset in order to get the results they desire.

Vieira said: “We have to look at the results, and the results haven't been the way we wanted.

“Then, there's the other side of analysing the game: with our performances. Our performances in general have been okay. They have been good at times, but the lack of consistency in that kind of performance has not allowed us to take the points that we wanted to.

“That means we have to be more consistent in our game. We have to be defending better, we have to score those opportunities that we are creating, and at the moment, we're not doing that.

“We don't take anything for granted. When we were in a really good position, we never were too high [in confidence], and we are going through a period where we want to turn those good performances into a win. At the moment, we don't do that.

“We are not low in our confidence. We are clear in the way we want to approach the game. We are clear about the responsibility that we have, and it's a big game for us tomorrow because it's a derby, of course, but it is a game in which is important for us to keep performing well, to allow ourselves to take those three points that we need."

Vieira is also excited to be facing Brighton at Selhurst Park, an opponent with which Palace possess a long-standing rivalry.

The manager noted: “It is the passion – the passion from both [sets of] fans. It is the rivalry between those two football clubs since years [ago], and of course, we all know – the staff, the players – about how important this game is.

“Again, the main focus will be on concentrating on the way we want to play the game, with the conviction and the belief in ourselves.

“We always had a good performance against them [last season], but we drew – we didn't manage to win those games – so it will be a different game of course, because of their new manager, but we know what to expect from them.

“We have quality, we have confidence, we have belief, and it will be important for us to perform tomorrow."