March 19 2001

Crystal Palace

New signing DAVID HOPKIN said that he is confident about Palace staying up at the end of the season. He said that after his side's sixth consecutive defeat on Satuday against league leaders Fulham.

HOPKIN who was recently re-signed by The Eagles, believes that it is only a matter of time before the right results come and that the club will stay out of the drop zone at the end of the season.

He said that it was always going to be difficult to get a good result against a team like Fulham, but he said that the only difference between the two sides was that Cottagers took their chances and Palace didn't.

"I thought we played a Premier League side in everything but name and it showed. We had just as many chances as Fulham but they took them and that made the difference," he said.

"If we continue to play the way we did, the results will come. So I'm not too bothered about relegation."

Meanwhile, former Palace manager Steve Coppell has been linked with the manager's job at Tranmere Rovers.

Coppell is named as one of the favourites to take over from John Aldridge, who resigned after Tranmere's last defeat at the hands of Barnsley.