Ahead of Saturday’s pre-season opener at Maidstone United, Frank de Boer has stated that he will be fielding an under-23 side as he is keen to see the club’s younger players up close and personal.

Because of this, Palace’s scheduled development game against Basingstoke Town that was scheduled for the same day has now been cancelled.

As head of Ajax’s academy, De Boer oversaw the development of a number of youngsters who have gone on to have stellar careers, including Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen. Now, he is keen to cast his eye over the Eagles’ youngsters and see if any are ready to step up into his first-team ahead of the 2017/18 campaign.

Speaking ahead of Palace’s first pre-season fixture at the Gallagher Stadium on the weekend, De Boer said: “We have been training very hard and, as I have discussed before, we have very talented players, so I want to see the under-23s playing.

“I will manage the team as well as the under-23 coach Richard Shaw, because I want to see how they will perform at game level.”