October 14 2004

Crystal Palace

International week always raises its own set of issues, not least the safe return of the nine players Palace had on international duty.

Following our first league win against Fulham, two weeks of snowballing optimism amongst fans is another!

But the importance of heading into an international weekend with a win under our belts cannot be underestimated.

Players (and fans alike) hate losing matches, with only the prospect of winning the next game providing respite.

A further two weeks at the bottom of the league may have gone unnoticed by a media preoccupied with world cup qualifiers, but would have been headline news for all in SE25.

As suggested in this column last week, staying in the top flight would be a miracle but increasing numbers are now sensing that Iain Dowie and co may have the right set-up in place.

With the Premierships' top scoring Englishman, ANDY JOHNSON, at our disposal anything is possible.

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