November 24 2008

Craig Beattie

CRAIG BEATTIE believes Crystal Palace are starting to see the benefits of their three-man strike-force.

The on-loan West Brom forward notched his third goal of the season in Palace's 4-2 win at home to Bristol City on Saturday.

And the former Celtic striker, who spearheaded the attack alongside Paul Ifill and Sean Scannell in the victory, admits he is loving every minute of his role.

He said: "I'm enjoying it. It gives more freedom. It's something I've not really done up until now. The manager doesn't mind me drifing out wide. I feel we've pegged teams back doing it becase there's so many people in their faces. I think it's working for us.

"I want to get more games, more goals and continue enjoying my football. The manager brought me here because they [Scowcroft and Lee] were injured. You'll make that decision when they come back. Until that time, I've got to keep producing."

He added: "I thought the team worked really well. We've got big defenders, top players in midfield and the manager's happy with how the strikers are doing.

"We've got a difficult game away to Norwich on Tuesday night and then QPR will be smarting from what happened [a 3-0 defeat to Watford] so we've got hard games coming up. But they're never easy, it's up to us to get ourselves up for it."