June 5 2003

Steve Kember

Steve Kember has put a striker and a central midfielder at the top of his summer shopping list, writes Joseph O'Shea.

The new Palace boss has already spoken to "two or three" players about joining Palace as he plots a path to the Premiership, but with limited funds available he knows he will have to make the most of his current squad.

He said: "The chairman has highlighted our financial position and those considerations will be taken into account before I am allowed to spend. I am not saying we don’t need two or three players in, but we have a lot of good players here already.

"Matt Clarke, Jamie Smith, Curtis Fleming, and Dougie Freedman would be four good signings, and we have got them back hopefully fully fit for the start of the season.

"The emergence of Ben Watson Wayne Routledge and Gary Borrowdale is also a big plus."

The Professional Footballers’ Association published a list of 791 players who are available this summer, but Kembers is yet to study the list.

He said: "At the moment we are just waiting to see what happens. There is going to be a load of players available and business will start in earnest in the last week of June, or early July when we come back.

"Looking at the balance of the squad I think we need a creative midfield player or an experienced midfielder that can hold our side together because we sometimes wobble if under a bit of pressure.

"We need a number nine, a leader up front. A striker we can find in the air, who can hold the ball up for you and bring the other strikers into play."

Here are some of the available players Kember could consider:

Ian Taylor (Aston Villa), John Moncur (West Ham), Craig Burley (Derby), John Robinson (Charlton), Michael Hughes (Wimbledon), Darren Eadie (Leicester), Bruce Dyer (Barnsley), Ludovic Pollet (Wolves).