November 12 2006

Peter Taylor

Peter Taylor insists he will not walk away despite Palace's surprise slide towards the relegation zone.

Pre-season promotion favourites Palace are in 20th place in the Championship after crashing to a 1-0 home defeat against Stoke on Saturday.

The defeat, Palace's sixth in seven matches and their fourth consecutive loss at Selhurst Park, leaves Taylor's team just three points above the bottom three.

But beleaguered boss Taylor is adamant he can still save the Eagles' season.

He said: "I'll be back in on Monday morning to try to turn it around against Barnsley next week.

"We need a result to kick-off our season. We're playing at about seven out of 10.

"I'm not hiding the fact we're playing below confidence at the moment but I'm confident we'll turn it around.

"All I can do is assure the players, myself and the chairman that we are going to work hard to do so."

Large sections of the home support jeered Palace off the pitch after the Stoke defeat.

Taylor admitted he sympathised with the fans and said: "I can understand the boos but they weren't as bad as they have been because the crowd saw a better performance.

"Stoke weren't miles better than us, and there will be plenty of teams around the country who have won today without playing as well as we have.

"We had a very good chance with Jobi, but that didn't happen for us and then we lose the ball in midfield and they go on and score.

"It's a disappointing result but I'm pleased with the effort everyone put in. We're not a lucky team at the moment."