June 19 2007

Shefki Kuqi

Peter Taylor believes a fully-fit Shefki Kuqi can fire Crystal Palace to glory next season.

Kuqi had a poor season with just eight goals in 37 appearances since joining from Blackburn for £2 million in August.

Newspaper reports at the weekend suggested chairman Simon Jordan wants to offload the Finnish international striker.

But boss Taylor insists Kuqi is going nowhere - and believes the 30-year-old will come good next term.

“It’s untrue that Simon Jordan wants Shefki to go - or that I want him to go for that matter,” Taylor told the South London Press. “We both want him to stay next season.

“We all hold our hands up that he didn’t have the best of seasons. But I know Shekfi is capable of scoring 20 goals in this division.

“He wasn’t match fit when he joined us as he didn’t have many games with Blackburn and had a hard start with us. I’m confident he’ll be firing for us next season.”

Taylor also scotched talk of a move for Chelsea’s 20-year-old midfielder Jimmy Smith, who spent last season on loan at QPR.

“The speculation is nothing to do with me - I don’t know where it came from,” he said.