December 11 2005

Iain Dowie

Iain Dowie was fuming after Palace were denied a late penalty against Wolves.

Dowie's side were forced to settled for another home draw when referee Mike Thorpe decided Gabor Gyepes' challenge on ANDY JOHNSON wasn't a foul.

Television replays suggested there was some contact and Dowie said: "If that wasn't a penalty, I'm a Dutchman.

"AJ's form is really starting to pick up after his injury, and he should have had his reward by getting the chance to smash that penalty home.

"We dominated the game, and not too many sides will do that to Wolves. They scored a fortunate goal which knocked us out of our stride, but we came back well.

"Apart from Darren Anderton's shot that hit the bar, they did not really cause us any problems."

With the top two in the Championship disappearing over the horizon, Dowie could be forgiven for settling for a play-off push.

But he still believes automatic promotion can be achieved and said: "We need to go on a fantastic run and for Sheffield United and Reading to slip up, but I believe that is possible.

"We did a similar thing to reach the play-offs in 2004, and the players are very positive."