December 1 2002

Trevor Francis

Trevor Francis was pleased with Palace's determination in the 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United and felt they were unlucky not to get something from the game.

Substitute Aki Riihilahti levelled for Palace on 69 minutes after Dean Windass put the Blades ahead on the stroke of half-time.

Palace thought they would be going back to London with a point but were cruelly denied in the last minute when substitute Wayne Allison got the winner for the hosts.

Francis said: "I was very disappointed with the result but pleased with the way we performed, we were the better side.

"We really showed our determination and when we got back at 1-1 we were the likely winners. The difference between a win and failure can be so narrow as was shown today.

"We passed the ball a lot better after the break and created chances, but we weren't able to take them.

"Both Andy and Dele had chances which could have been taken but it was not to be. The fact that Dele's effort went away from goal after hitting the bar rather than going in shows that dividing line of fortune that today was against us."