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Oliver Glasner has suggested he considered fielding full back Nathaniel Clyne as a makeshift striker in Crystal Palace's Carabao Cup tie against Millwall due to a lack of alternatives.
Crystal Palace came through their third round tie on penalties on Tuesday night, following a 1-1 draw against the Championship side.
Millwall had forced penalties with a stoppage time header from Ryan Leonard, whose effort cancelled out Chris Richards' opener for the Eagles.
Goalkeeper Walter Benitez saved two spot kicks in the shootout on debut, with Crystal Palace converting all four of their penalties to advance to the fourth round.
Glasner was asked post match about a miss by Jean-Philippe Mateta deep into stoppage time, with last season's top scorer firing wide from close range.
The Crystal Palace boss suggested fatigue was the cause of the miss as he defended Mateta, while pointing to his limited options on the bench by suggesting 34-year-old full back Clyne had been considered as a possible makeshift striker.
Oliver Glasner suggested he nearly played Nathaniel Clyne up front amid a lack of options
Glasner claimed the full back was under consideration due to Crystal Palace's stretched squad
Young full back Rio Cardines and midfielder Kaden Rodney were cited as other potential options from the bench.
'I think JP honestly needs a break; you saw his chance was just fatigue from playing every game, every minute,' Glasner said.
'In the second half, I looked who could play striker: Clyne, Cardines, or Rodney.
'But it is what it is, I can't complain about it.
'At the moment it is more fighting than playing, we are fighting for the points rather than playing for the points.
'There will be moments where we will play better, have better performances and win.
'Staying unbeaten is important for us and not always talking about the problems we have, many teams would be delighted if they are unbeaten on September 16, we are one of them.'
Glasner's comment comes with Crystal Palace having stretched their unbeaten run to 16 competitive matches, dating back to mid-April.
The Eagles boss said a late miss by Jean-Philippe Mateta was as a consequence of fatigue
Crystal Palace secured a penalty shoot-out win over Millwall to advance in the Carabao Cup
The run includes eight matches at the close of last season, including the FA Cup final triumph, and has featured the Community Shield, Premier League, Conference League and now Carabao Cup this season.
Palace have been battling injuries at the start of the campaign with Eddie Nketiah, Chieck Doucoure, Adam Wharton and Ismaila Sarr among those on the sidelines.
Glasner had reportedly been unhappy during the transfer window as Palace struggled to strengthen his squad, with the Eagles also sanctioning the £60m sale of Eberechi Eze to Arsenal.
Benitez, Borna Sosa, Yeremy Pino and Jaydee Canvot were among the additions Palace made over the summer.
Glasner last week denied claims he had threatened to quit the club over the potential deadline day sale of captain Marc Guehi, with the centre back's proposed move to Liverpool eventually collapsing.
Speaking after the Carabao Cup win over Millwall, Glasner also stressed that £14.5m January signing Romain Esse must start to perform, after the 20-year-old was hauled off at half-time.
Glasner admitted Romain Esse must start performing after he was taken off at half-time
'I don't want to talk about a single player, but if you sub someone at half-time you are not pleased with his performance,' Glasner said.
'It's simple, football is not so difficult. When you get a chance, you have to perform and show you can help the team win the game.
'If I have a feeling a player can help the team win a game, he gets many minutes. If I get the feeling a player doesn't help a team win the game, he doesn't get many minutes.
'He's a nice guy, I like him as a person. But I'm not being paid to be a nice person, I'm being paid to win games. It's up to the player to improve.'
