Marouane Chamakh has played down the hype of him facing his former club when Crystal Palace host the Gunners on Saturday.

The 31-year-old spent three seasons at the Emirates before moving to Selhurst Park, via a loan spell at West Ham, in August 2013.

Chamakh feels it has now become a regular occurrence to face his old side that it is just another game.

“Now, because I have played against them a few times, it is going to be different [than it was before],” said Chamakh.

“It is not like it’s going to be the first time [playing against them] since I left Arsenal.

“It’s a really important game and we need a minimum one point, but it’s going to be hard.

“We’re going to work hard this week to do something.”

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The Senegal international signed from French side Reims last month and Chamakh is giving his new teammate the support he needs to settle at the club.

“We have been helping him as he doesn’t speak or understand English very well,” he said.

“He came just this week and has had maybe two training sessions with us.

“I think he’s going to be a very good player for us.”

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He added: “I know him from France, he just needs to know how we train, how the English mentality is, how the level of the English game is; we’re helping him on and off the pitch.”

Mile Jedinak is expected to recover in time from an ankle injury while Yannick Bolasie should also start.

Chamakh says he is pleased to see both players back in the squad and he praised Bolasie for his recent success at the African Cup of Nations.

“It’s really good for confidence to know that Jedinak and Bolasie are going to be in the team with us [again],” said Chamakh.

“Before and after the competition we [Chamakh and Bolasie] had a really big conversation. We knew it was going to be difficult for him [and DR Congo] but he did really well and his team went to the semi-final.

“It was a good experience for him being his first competition and his first African cup and he liked it. Maybe I will be there next time.”