Crystal Palace Manager Comments on Mystify Results

I think there were a lot of people around the club who didn't rate Leicester as a real threat. You can't afford to do that in this competition. Its a very even league this season, and if you take your eye off the ball for a second, you can find yourself on a slippery slope into relegation trouble. Hopefully we've learned our lesson from this result, and we can take something positive from it into next week's game.

Charlton are one of the benchmarks we will be measuring ourselves against this season. Both Charlton and Crystal Palace I think saw themselves as not too far off promotion last season, so we'll both be looking to build on that experience and take that next step this season.

We had much more of the play in the second half, but we're just not clicking up forward. In the end it was up to Gordo to do the scoring. He's a great lad, and it was a great goal, but when the leading scorer at the club is playing at right back, something is wrong and it needs to be addressed.

Counting this match, we play all of the other top 6 teams over a 6 week period, so this game could be the start of something big, or it could just give us false confidence. We'll know in a month and a half, but until then we'll just take it one week at a time and stay positive, but not get too cocky.

Its been a disappointing few weeks, frankly. We've faced up to the best teams in the division, and we've come up short. Not far short, so there is some hope there, but at the end of the day we've only managed one point out of a possible nine, and we're out of both cup competitions. We can more or less write off promotion for another season, so there's not much left for us to play for. I think some of the players are more comfortable with that, but let me tell you I am not. Our fans expect more from us, and I plan to deliver on the fans' expectations. Any players that are happy playing for a team in the middle of Division 1 are going to find themselves transferred to one, because this club is not going to be staying here.

I know they won't be making any excuses, but if Villa had their first choice keeper out there it could have been a very different story. We played three strikers out there and none of them relly looked convincing. Its been a problem all season, and its something that needs looking at. If the players we've got can't put the ball in the back of the net, we'll sell them and buy players who can.

I don't want to keep harping on about it, but once again our strikers didn't perform today. Fortunately we had young guys in the back half who were able to step up and shoulder the load, but we can't rely on that happening week in and week out.

Its the midpoint of the season, so its a good time to make an assessment og how we're travelling as a club. I think there is a lot to be positive about, but there is a long way to travel. Football is a funny game and there is not much point in us looking further ahead than next week's game. We've done a lot of rebuilding this season, but this season is about more than just rebuilding. I want to assure the fans that we will be fighting tooth and nail for a promotion place.

We're still in there with a chance of a promotion place, but there's a long way to go. Our destiny is in our own hands, which is pleasing, so its up to us how we play out the season.

We've moved into the top three, but there are still four teams right in contention for three promotion spots. I don't know about the other clubs, but we have tough games right at the end of the season, so it is really important that we get the points on the board while we can. If we just keep trying to get it right on the pitch, it will all come out in the wash.

On paper we aren't a better team than Southampton, or any of the other teams in this division, so its a matter of playing together as a team. I can't take any of the credit for that, its the mental qualities of the lads that is bringing us success at the moment.

We tried young Stocchi in goals this week, and he kept a clean sheet. You can't ask for more than that. He's developing well, and he should really give us another option in goals, which is always good.

I think our new signings show that we do have aspirations for this club. We can't sit still. We've got to keep trying to improve, whether thats in the First Division or in the Premier is irrelevant.

We played three of our youngsters today, and they really shone out. Sadler and Lee scored a pair each, and Stocchi did the busines at the other end. Thats not to discount the efforts of the older lads. Its a team sport, and in a way the whole team contributed to the result, even if it was only two of them that have their names up on the scoreboard. I'll be spending the next couple of days making sure that the young lads know where the credit is due. But for the moment, let's givem their moment of glory, eh?

Its our first loss in 13 weeks, so obviously we can be proud of our record for the season.

We've snuck back into the promotion places this week, so now we have our future back in our own hands. As long as we keep winning, we'll go up. If we drop points, we'll have to rely on other results going our way.

If we do go up, frankly I think we'll be out-classed in the Premiership. If you look at the quality of the playing lists of some of the clubs then, on paper, we will struggle to match them. But football isn't played on paper, so we want to be in there with the big boys. There are plenty of young players in the squad, and I am confident they will improve for the experience.

I shoulder the responsibility for the result today. I thought the squad we chose had the goods, but perhaps I should have gone with a little bit more experience today. Once Burnley got a goal on the board, we didn't have enough experience to draw on to claw it back, and in the end thats cost us a place in the Premier.