December 3 2004

Iain Dowie

Palace boss Iain Dowie is hoping a victory against fellow south Londoners Charlton on Sunday will spark a run of good results over the vital Christmas period and push his side up the table, by Stuart Pink.

After collecting just two points from a possible 12 during the Eagles' nightmare November', Palace's December fixture list looks more pleasing on the eye with games against Charlton, Blackburn, Manchester United, Portsmouth and Spurs.

But Dowie believes Charlton's visit to Selhurst Park would provide a solid platform to go on and preserve their Premiership status.

Dowie said: "We want to crack on with our points total, it's a key game and we need to make sure we get some big results and we're well set to because the lads are hungry, they were excellent in training yesterday.

"If we can get some results in the next three or four games, we can get ourselves in the situation where we can crack on after Christmas."

The Palace boss is hoping the Selhurst Park crowd will be in good voice for the derby and is anticipating a noisy afternoon if his players perform.

Dowie said: "We had wonderful support at Southampton and we want another rammed full house. I'm sure they'll bring a few, let's make sure we pump up the volume and make sure it's ready to rock."

Dowie's preparation for the game received a set-back on Monday when Nicola Ventola turned an ankle in training and looks set to spend more time on the sidelines after just returning to light training following a knee problem.

Dowie said: "It was his third day back in and he was looking very well, but he's rolled his ankle so we'll have to wait and see the scan result, but hopefully there's nothing too serious.

"It's going to be two or three weeks anyway, it's rotten luck for the lad."

But Dowie did receive some good news with the return of Uruguayan defender Gonzalo Sorondo to full training, and he is likely to be in contention for the Blackburn game next week, along with Shaun Derry after the collapse of his move to Leeds.

Dowie also dismissed speculation that Ecuadorian summer signing IVAN KAVIEDES has returned home as "rubbish" after a disappointing start to his Palace career.