Louis van Gaal: Crystal Palace is a must-win game for Manchester United
Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has warned his side they have no room for error in the race for a Champions League spot.
With five games remaining, fifth-placed United are still in contention for a place in the top four of the Barclays Premier League but do need either Manchester City or Arsenal to slip up.
Because of that, Van Gaal knows his team can ill afford any mistakes themselves and believes three points are essential as Crystal Palace visit Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Van Gaal said: "I have always an eye on the schedule of my team and I have to look if the load is not an overload for players.
"But this game against Crystal Palace is very important. We have to win, we need to win, otherwise we cannot close the gap.
"You can only give pressure by winning, so we can only look at ourselves."
United face Everton in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley on Saturday but Van Gaal has had to put that glamour occasion to the back of his mind.
The Dutchman said: "For us it is too important to rotate because of freshness for the semi-final. For me, now, the most important thing is to beat Crystal Palace. To speak about the semi-final against Everton isn't appropriate."
Captain Wayne Rooney is hoping to continue after playing 67 minutes i the 1-0 win over Aston Villa in his first start since recovering from a knee injury and coming through unscathed.
Marcus Rashford, who has scored seven goals since bursting onto the scene in February, again seems likely to feature with Van Gaal having eased the teenager's training load to avoid fatigue.
Midfielder Ander Herrera is back in contention to face Palace as the Spaniard missed the victory over Aston Villa after suffering a knock in the FA Cup quarter-final replay win over West Ham last week.
Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger (knee), forward Adnan Januzaj (hamstring) and defender Luke Shaw (leg) are still out.
Alan Pardew has insisted he will not pick a weakened Palace team despite their FA Cup semi-final with Watford on Sunday.
The Palace manager has ruled out regular starters Yannick Bolasie, Joel Ward, Joe Ledley and Scott Dann but remains optimistic each will recover their fitness to face Watford at Wembley.
Sunday's game represents a fine chance to reach the final and now Palace's Premier League status appears secure there would be reason to rest Yohan Cabaye, Wilfried Zaha and others.
"I don't think anyone will look at our side and worry about us putting an under-strength team out when they see the team sheet," said Pardew.
"One or two changes I will definitely do just to increase the energy. We are effectively playing four games in 12 days of Premier League standard.
"With the FA Cup semi-final we have Watford, we had Norwich, Everton and Arsenal (in the league) so it has been a really tough run for us so I will freshen it up.
"We need to be strong and keep focused. I am not going to change my team completely. I don't believe in that.
"We have got a few problems. They should all be okay for Sunday."
Pardew will have James McArthur available, despite previous concerns he would miss the remainder of the season with an ankle ligaments injury suffered in February.
If he impresses at Old Trafford he could be in line for a run-out at Wembley.
"McArthur is going to return for this game and he has been a real miss for us," Pardew said.
"His energy, his experience, his quality. It is really good news for us for the four remaining (league) games.
"(He will feature against Watford) if he can come through (against United), which I think he can, so we will see."
Dwight Gayle misses the game against United because of a leg injury.
Source: PAR
