April 17 2011

Dougie Freedman

Crystal Palace manager Dougie Freedman has challenged his players to bounce back from the demoralising defeat to Scunthorpe.

The Eagles lost the relegation "six-pointer" 2-1 and are now just three points ahead of Scunthorpe who lie in the bottom three.

"It was a really bad day at the office," said Freedman. "We've been on a great run at home but it's come to an end just when we didn't want it to.

"We were maybe a bit tense and Scunthorpe were two or three yards sharper than our players. I've no complaints about losing the match.

"But we will take our medicine and move on. What I have to ask now is how will we respond?"

Iron boss Alan Knill said: "It's a massive win. It was billed as a must-win game and it really was.

"If they had gone nine points in front it would have been difficult with four games left. We've cut it to three and it gives us a belief that we can still do it.

"We are always on at the them that they are better than they have shown. From start to finish it was a really good performance by the team."