Roy Hodgson has a decision to make when it comes to who plays at centre-back for Crystal Palace against Tottenham this afternoon (Saturday).
But the Palace boss is welcoming the selection headache at the back, with James Tomkins coming into contention to feature for the first time this season, after recovering from a groin injury that has kept him out since April.
He has returned to training this week, with the former West Ham man now set to compete with Mamadou Sakho and Gary Cahill for a starting berth at the heart of the defence, with Martin Kelly sidelined with a groin injury and Scott Dann facing a late fitness test.
And Hodgson admits that he is pleased to have such experienced players to call upon for such a big game.
“We are very well off, we can’t complain at all there,” he said.
“We have had to wait a while for Mamadou [Sakho] and James [Tomkins], because they picked up relatively serious injuries towards the end of last season. We were hoping they would clear up and they would be back from the start of pre-season, but it wasn’t the case.
“They have both worked hard and both are now fit and have no injury issues and both of them would have liked to have played a few more games I suppose.
"But we mustn’t forget that was the same with Gary Cahill when he joined us, he came here physically fit, but having liked to have had a few more games.
"The only way to make certain of that is to make sure they are fit and to be able to say to the manager, ‘I am here and ready to be picked’.
“It is a long season and you pick up injuries. We have a very small squad and in certain areas we don’t have many options, particularly if there were injuries, but the two areas where that isn’t the case is goalkeeper and centre back.”
