August 23 2006

Peter Taylor

Peter Taylor has told his stand-in stars they blew their chance to earn a regular starting place.

Palace boss Taylor made several changes for Tuesday's League Cup clash against Notts County and selected Scott Flinders, Darren Ward, Matt Lawrence, Marco Reich, Jon Macken and Clinton Morrison.

But they failed to impress as the Eagles slumped to a dismal 2-1 home defeat against League Two County.

Taylor said: "I'm sure there were plenty of players who wanted to knock on my door to see why they weren't in the team.

"I told them to convince me against Notts County but I shouldn't think there will be too many knocking on my door."

I'm disappointed because any club needs a good cup run and I'm disappointed about the performance because I know the players are 10 times better than what they showed.

"We've had players that have played four or five matches over just a couple of weeks and they needed a rest, but I felt that the team that went out tonight was good enough to beat Notts County.

"I'm very disappointed and I will apologise to my chairman when I phone him up later.

"The fans have paid money to come and watch and they are right to be disappointed."