March 29 2006

Gabor Kiraly

GABOR KIRALY admits he has been feeling the strain of Palace's promotion challenge.

KIRALY was rested by Iain Dowie in December because the Eagles boss believed his goalkeeper was looking tired.

The Hungarian has found it hard to cope with the pressure of so many important fixtures in a short space of time.

But insists he is back to his best now and said: "It's a huge strain, I experienced a situation like this at Hertha Berlin when we played in the Champions League and won the league.

"In total we had 56 games excluding national team matches but this campaign is going to be longer than that one.

"Before Christmas Iain Dowie told me that I was too tired so he asked me to have a rest and when I felt fit, I could return immediately.

"I really needed the time off and after my comeback we won seven games in a row and I kept five clean sheets.

"The success of the team is the most important thing so during that time I was helping Julian Speroni as much as I was able to."