November 26 2006

Mark Hudson

Peter Taylor saluted his defenders for subduing Preston striker David Nugent in Palace's battling draw at Deepdale.

After last weekend's win against Barnsley, Taylor's side showed further signs of a revival with a goalless draw against promotion chasing Preston.

The Lancashire side struggled to break down Palace's back four as they stopped highly-rated striker Nugent making any impact.

Taylor, who tried to buy Nugent in the summer, said: "I think we did keep him a little bit quiet today, but we know how strong he is, how he wins games, how he scores goals. I am a big fan of his.

"I think anybody in the Championship would want David. He really is a Premiership player.

"If somebody had offered me a point before the game I would have taken it.

"We repect Preston. We know they are good players so everybody was on their toes to do their job.

"There wasn't a lot of chances for both teams, but I think that with just a little bit of quality at the end, we could have sneaked a goal.

"On the ball I was very pleased, defensively very pleased.

"Everyone worked very hard. We came here against a team who are flying and did very well."