February 26 2002

Ade Akinbiyi

Ade Akinbiyi is determined to silence the boo-boys of Selhurst Park.

The former Leicester City player has failed to score for Palace since his £2.2m move to Selhurst Park, and fans have started to get disgruntled by his poor performances.

However, Akinbiyi is determined to prove them wrong. He said: "I have heard a few things from the supporters but I am not going to let that affect me.

"I have got to be strong and focus on what I want to do. I will start scoring goals again. It is just a matter of when.

"I am not desperate to score again. I just want to get my performances right and then the goals will come."

Akinbiyi has also had to get used to a new formation since joining Palace. The 4-3-3 is a system which is unfamilar to him, but he agrees that he will have to get used to it and his team mates as soon as possible, as there is still a chance that Palace can make the play-offs.

He said: "We want to get into the play-offs and all the teams are trying to pull away from us in the table."

Reflecting on the last three games, Akinbiyi said: "We have not played well in the last three games.

"Maybe it is just a coincidence that they are the ones I have played in but the other lads told me the performances had not been that good at Selhurst Park before."

Looking forward to the game against Barnsley tonight he said: "We have not been playing well but we just want to get the three points. The performance is not as important.

"The quality is there, otherwise we would be in a different position in the table, and the mood is still good. The next five matches are going to be very important for us."