*This interview was initially published in the Crystal Palace v Aston Villa programme in January 2026 - you can buy issues of the matchday programme by clicking HERE.*
Footballers are all about rhythm. After all, routine breeds consistency.
It’s why superstitions are so common amongst professionals, or at least they were before more started to look at the actual data, and less at which shin pad they must put on first.
When you are playing week in, week out in the Premier League, it’s the expectation that you are as close to the top of your game as possible. But when you haven’t been playing regularly, that sharpness, that rhythm obtained from all those matches isn’t there.
It’s never an easy situation to be in. So, when Nathaniel Clyne stepped into the Palace starting XI for December's trip to Fulham, he had to utilise every bit of previous experience built up over his career.
“It was always going to be a tough game anyway,” Clyne tells us on a cold morning at Copers Cope. “But from my personal perspective, having not started a Premier League game in… eight months I think, it wasn’t easy.
“I just wanted to be back up to speed as quickly as possible. In that scenario you just want to get your first few touches out of the way and build into the game.
“I managed to do that and fitness-wise I felt okay. That’s the other thing in your mind when you’ve not played for a while.
“Overall, I think I coped really well.”
That’s probably an understatement.