Palace v Burnley

Selhurst Park, Saturday 3.00pm

Story so far

Put your minds back to the last home game before the playoffs. An emphatic win to put us in to the playoffs.

A 5-0 win. 5 goals. It was only a few months ago but has anybody else forgot what it's like to celebrate a goal?

Fortunately, Burnley's defence is about as good as our strike force, so we might be able to score. Maybe. Actually, don't get your hopes up.

The good news is, we're still actively looking for strikers. Collins John, Stern John, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - they're all being mentioned.

The question is, will Warnock do a bit of tinkering to the side now that we have Oster, a proper winger, in?

With the impressive Djilali pushing himself towards the first team, he could well find himself out on the wing.

Coyle has made his own changes at Burnley - he's released a few players and brought a few Scots in. Oh, and Chris Eagles.

I'm sure both Coyle and Warnock are well aware that the start to the season has been poor - both teams should see where they are at the end of September before making too many judgements.

Team news

Sean Scannell is touch and go about making the side after struggling with a back strain that sidelined him from Saturday's loss at Preston.

Kieran Djilali, 17, is set for a bench appearance after impressing manager Neil Warnock. "Kieran is playing better than anyone at the club at the moment - I wanted to name him on the bench for the Preston game but we already had three attacking players as subs. I want to bring players like Kieran through."

Burnley's Scotland U21 midfielder Kevin McDonald could be handed his debut. Northern Ireland pair Martin Paterson and Michael Duff and Scotland defender Graham Alexander will have fitness tests.

Quotes

Owen Coyle

"The biggest thing for me about the goals conceded was within the group we have to take individual responsibility when the ball arrives in the box and take responsibility to clear the lines.

"We haven't done that and we have paid a heavy price," insisted Coyle.

"We are not just laying everything at the door of the defence because ultimately it's a team thing and we need to defend all over the park.

"They need to win the individual battles and then we won't be giving away the soft goals we have been.

"Without making excuses every bit of bad luck that could come their way has happened, so what you do is get back on the training ground, work your socks off to put that right and hopefully you can translate that work into the game on Saturday.

"We will go to Palace in good heart because we know we are capable of winning games in the Championship.

"We know it will be a tough fixture but we will make sure the lads are ready to give their best.

"This team will get better the longer they play together, but first and foremost it's important we get those points on the board to allow us to develop that and take it on.

"There would be no better place to bounce back than Crystal Palace."

---

Burnley - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
24th	2	0	0	2	0

Full league table

---

Burnley - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
3	1	0	2	3	7

Full form table

---

Our home record v Burnley

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
15	4	7	4	17	12

---

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
04/05/2008	League	Crystal Palace	5 - 0	Burnley
29/09/2007	League	Burnley	1 - 1	Crystal Palace
03/03/2007	League	Burnley	1 - 1	Crystal Palace
26/08/2006	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 2	Burnley
17/04/2006	League	Burnley	0 - 0	Crystal Palace

All time results

---

One to watch

Martin Paterson

Young Paterson broke on to the football scene 3-4 years ago and has now started to flourish.

In the 06/07 season, the then 19 year old hit in 7 goals for Grimsby whilst out on loan. The following season he notched up a tally of 14 goals for relegated Scunthorpe. This season he has 3 goals in as many games - although only one goal in the league.

At only 5'9", he's not likely to win much in the air, but alongside Akinbiyi, he could well creep behind after a well placed knock-down.

Last meeting

Palace 5-0 Burnley

Sunday May 04 2008

Palace: Speroni, Butterfield, Hudson, Fonte, Hill, Derry (Fletcher 59), Watson, Soares, Sinclair, Morrison (Scannell 72), Moses (Ifill 32)

Subs Not Used: Craig, Scowcroft

Goals: Watson 8 pen, Moses 10, Soares 37, Sinclair 61, Morrison 65

Burnley: Jensen, Alexander, Carlisle, Caldwell, Harley, Duff, Elliott (MacDonald 70), McCann (Mahon 81), Randall (Gudjonsson 46), James O'Connor, Blake

Subs Not Used: Kiraly, Jordan

Booked: Alexander

Sent Off: Carlisle (7)

Prediction league

0 members have predicted for this game so far.

Make your prediction on this game

Selhurst pub guide

Click here