Time to shine - Palace preview
By 4two
April 29 2004
A defeat this weekend could see us relegated depending on what our relegation rivals do. We must win to stay in the fight.
TEAM NEWS
Keeper Jim Walker should certainly be available, even though he struggled through last weeks game with the Blades. Merse has no new fresh injury problems. Matt Fryatt came back early from England duty in order to be available for selection. Merse could select the same team that he put out last week
Crystal Palace only have one major injury worry. Michael Hughes is out injured and will not figure. Dowie could well select the side that beat Crewe 3-2 last weekend.
CURRENT FORM
| LAST 5 GAMES | |||||
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Walsall |
Crystal Palace | ||||
| Derby (a) | W | 1-0 |
Cardiff City |
W | 0-2 |
| Burnley (h) | L | 0-1 | West Ham (h) | W | 1-0 |
| Gillingham (a) | L | 3-0 | Wigan Ath (h) | D | 1-1 |
| Norwich City (a) | L | 5-0 | Sunderland (h) | W | 3-0 |
| Sheffield Utd (h) | L | 1-0 | Crewe Alex (a) | W | 2-3 |
SQUADS
| WALSALL SQUAD | PALACE SQUAD | |||
| 1 | Jim Walker | 2 | Curtis Fleming | |
| 2 | Darren Bazeley | 3 | Danny Granville | |
| 3 | Zigor Aranalde | 4 | Danny Butterfield | |
| 5 | Matt Carbon | 5 | Kit Symons | |
| 6 | Ian Roper | 6 | Tony Popovic | |
| 7 | Simon Osborn | 8 | Andrew Johnson | |
| 8 | Steve Corica | 9 | Dougie Freedman | |
| 9 | Jorge Leitao | 10 | Shaun Derry | |
| 10 | Paul Merson | 11 | Neil Shipperley | |
| 11 | Darren Wrack | 12 | Jamie Smith | |
| 15 | Neil Emblen | 13 | Cedric Berthelin | |
| 17 | Mark Wright | 14 | Ben Watson | |
| 19 | Craig Burley | 15 | Aki Riihilahti | |
| 21 | Kris Taylor | 16 | Tommy Black | |
| 24 | Matty Fryatt | 17 | Michael Hughes | |
| 25 | Gavin Caines | 18 | Gary Borrowdale | |
| 26 | Paul Ritchie | 21 | Julian Gray | |
| 27 | Aaron Kerr | 22 | Wayne Routledge | |
| 28 | Jermaine McSporran | 24 | Mikele Leigertwood | |
| 30 | Julian Bennett | 27 | Nike Vaasen | |
| 32 | Andy Petterson | 28 | Ton Soares | |
| 33 | Keith Andrews | 29 | Gavin Heeroo | |
| 34 | Lee Bradbury | 30 | Lance Cronin | |
| 0 | No Player y | 32 | Darren Powell | |
| 0 | No Player | 36 | Tariq Nabil | |
| 0 | No Player | 43 | Sam Togwell | |
KEY MEN
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Andy Johnson is Divisions ones form player. Johnson has 30 goals to his name this season, including 3 last weekend against Crewe. AJ also got a hat-trick against the Saddlers last season. His pace could expose a shaky Walsall back line. |
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Paul Merson says he will take responsibility if we go down. Merson had a tremendous second half against the Blades last weekend. Merse dropped himself for the last away game. Will he do the same this weekend and play a solid 4 in midfield? |
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Wayne Routledge is a talented young wide man who has has played a key role in his sides recent run of good form. Routledge has won international honours with England, and is believed to have a bright future in the game. |
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Darren Wrack made his first team return last weekend. Wracky has been missing for just over 2 months. We lack someone with Wracks ability to turn defence in to attack at the drop of the hat. Will Merse risk his recovery with a place in the starting line up? |
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Nico Vaesen is currently on loan from Birmingham city. Vaesen has put in a number of classy performances this season and is one of the Eagles form players. Vaesen is an excellent shot stopper who has a great reputation. |
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Paul Ritchie is back and in superb form. His return to the squad has been a great boost for the fans who love his no-nonsense style of play. Palace have an array of attacking talent and we will need Paul Ritchie to be at his very best. |
HEAD-2-HEAD
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| LAST 5 MEETINGS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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OUR OPPONENTS..
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Fixtures | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Burnley | 44 | -13 | 53 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Crewe | 44 | -7 | 52 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Rotherham Utd | 44 | -10 | 51 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Gillingham | 44 | -16 | 50 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Derby County | 44 | -15 | 49 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 22 | Walsall | 44 | -20 | 48 | ||||||||||||||||||
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