Palace v Burnley

Selhurst Park, Saturday 3.00pm

Andy Johnson

Team news

England striker Johnson returned to action as a substitute at Coventry last weekend but felt soreness in his knee after the match. He missed the midweek defeat to Brighton and is due to see a specialist this week. Mikele Leigertwood (ankle), Tony Popovic (calf) and Danny Granville are all set to miss out, while Aki Riihilahti (calf) is doubtful. Burnley boss Steve Cotterill hopes Graham Branch can shake off a calf injury that kept him out of Tuesday's win at Leicester.

Danny Karbassiyoon could feature for the first time this season after recovering from a pelvic injury suffered in pre-season.

Striker Karl Bermingham has returned to Manchester City after a two-month loan, while goalkeeper Danny Coyne and defender Wayne Thomas (both knee) are out for the rest of the season.

Burnley - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
14th	14	4	4	6	16

Full league table

Burnley - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
5	3	1	1	7	3

Full form table

Our home record v Burnley

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
9	2	3	4	7	9

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
10/01/2004	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 0	Burnley
09/08/2003	League	Burnley	2 - 3	Crystal Palace
18/01/2003	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 1	Burnley
31/08/2002	League	Burnley	0 - 0	Crystal Palace
01/12/2001	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 2	Burnley

All time results

One to watch

Ade Akinbiyi

Burnley's top scorer

Ade Akinbiyi - 6 goals

Burnley's bad boy

Micah Hyde - 5 0

Palace old boys

Ade Akinbiyi

The Wild Man of Borneo returns to Selhurst this Saturday and will definitely have a score to settle. As a youngster was a prolific goalscorer was touted as a real star, however a Ł5m move to Leicester nearly ruined his career.

A torrid few seasons entailed (including a spell at fortress Selhurst) but the Hackney-born Nigerian striker seems to have found his form (and the net) over the last season and a half and is the sole reason why Burnley are mid-table rather than languishing woefully at the foot. He has bagged 8 goals in all competitions in a side struggling to leave first gear.

A tall, strong, quick striker will cause Palace’s shaky (at best) defence a few problems and the old “ex-player syndrome” is bound to come in to effect as Ade attempts to put one over on the Palace fans that booed him towards the end of his spell (and Simon Jordan who slagged him off during his last few weeks as an Eagle).

Other players who could cause a threat to Palace on Saturday are Akinbiyi’s potential strike partner Gifton Noel-Williams, another pacy, strong striker with an eye for the net, and Frank Sinclair, the stalwart centre back will provide a strong fence that the Palace strikers will have to break through.

Last meeting

Palace 0-0 Burnley

Saturday January 10 2004

Palace: Myhre, Fleming (Borrowdale, 12), Popovic (Black, 73), Smith, Granville, Routledge, Watson, Butterfield, Gray, Johnson, Shipperley (Freedman, 61)

Subs not used: Berthelin, Soares

Burnley: Jensen, Roche, May, McGregor, Camara, Chadwick (Little, 52), Chaplow (Branch, 79), Grant, Weller, Blake, Ian Moore

Subs not used: Alan Moore, West, Pilkington

Booking: Grant (Burnley)