“Jeffrey [Schlupp] is suspended, so Ebs has been training week after week,” Vieira said in his pre-match interview. “He was waiting for his opportunity and his opportunity is today.
“In goal, Jack has been playing well in the cup run so far.”
Vieira emphasised that, despite Everton’s tough season so far, Palace will have to be at the top of their game to make it to Wembley.
“It’s just about trying to be a team and really concentrating on the performance,” he said. “I’m delighted with the players concentration and they’ve been working quite well in training, and then you have to do that in games.
“We have to perform well first. There is an opportunity [to go to Wembley], and I think the game today will be 50-50.
“We have to concentrate, we have to perform well and we have to play together, and if we have a good game we have a good chance of winning – but we don’t want to think about the semi-final before we have played today.”