September 25 2001

Crystal Palace

Palace boss Steve Bruce returns to Bramall Lane since leaving the club as manager in bad terms in 1999.

He joked: "I'm sure I'll get a wonderful reception! Thankfully, though, it looks like Sheffield are in a better state now because at least they know who the chairman is and who is in charge, which wasn't the case when I was there."

Steve Vickers, who is on loan from Middlesborough, will continue in defence after good debut against Barnsley on Saturday.

Tommy Black could start after impressing in recent games coming on as a second half substitute before he starts his suspension. David Hopkin may take a place on the bench after recovering from injury.

Defender Tony Popovic feels Palace can get promotion if they can get things right in defence.

He said: "There is potential here to go for promotion, but we have had an indifferent start. We've conceded a lot of soft goals which has been disappointing because we need a strong defence to form a challenge.

"We can't just have one good game and then have a slump for two or three games. Our form has been erratic and we are not happy about it.

"It is still early days but we don't want to be in a relegation battle. We want to be higher up the table to lay down the foundations of a good year."

Meanwhile, Sheffield United boss Neil Warnock will be without winger Paul Devlin and he is set to keep the same squad which was at Millwall.

Assistant manager Kevin Blackwell expects a difficult game. He said: "There are no easy games. I don't think there is much between the sides in the First Division this year but it's still very hard."