October 4 2005

Iain Dowie

Iain Dowie has told MARCO REICH he is ready to hand him a long-term contract after watching the German destroy QPR.

REICH scored two stunning goals as Palace won 3-1 at Loftus Road to claim their first away victory for almost a year.

The former Derby winger initially agreed to stay only until January but Dowie said: "MARCO is a great player and he scored two fantastic goals tonight.

"If he continues to play as he is doing, I'm sure he will earn a long and fruitful stay here. He is going to get better with every game.

"I signed him only on a short-term deal at first because I wanted to be sure he was as good as he was in the past.

"Sometimes discretion is the better part of valour, but I'm sure the chairman will be happy with that bit of business."

Palace played some impressive counter-attacking football to overwhelm QPR and Dowie believes the success can kickstart a promotion push.

He said: "Our away form has been decent, but the results haven't been. Hopefully this can be the lift-off for us.

"That said, we are still 13 points behind Sheffield United, so we have still some ground to make up."