Can the Rams pull out of their nose-dive down the table? Can Colin's boys pick themselves up from a 4-0 home reverse? Will Claude Davis head a single ball straight?
Crystal Palace:
Current League Position: 20th
Leading Scorer: Ambrose 2c/2l
Manager: Neil Warnock
Kit home: Red/Blue stripped Shirt/Blue shorts
Kit away: White & blue/White shorts
Last game: Crystal Palace 0-4 Scunthorpe United
Quotes from the manager:
From the BBC following the defeat by Scunthorpe:
"I hope the lads go home tonight as embarrassed as me. We can't play like that. I can't think of a bigger embarrassment in my career.
"All you can do is apologize to the fans who I thought were terrific. I would crucify the manager if I was one of them after that".
"I don't think Scunthorpe have scored a good goal. I'm not knocking them; we absolutely put it on a plate for them. They must think they won the pools."
Current Palace Squad:
1 Keeper Julián Speroni
2 Defender Nathaniel Clyne
3 Defender Clint Hill (vice-captain)
4 Midfield Shaun Derry (captain)
5 Defender Paddy McCarthy
6 Defender José Fonte
7 Midfield Darren Ambrose
8 Midfield Neil Danns
9 Striker Stern John
10 Midfield Nick Carle
11 Striker Victor Moses
12 Keeper Darryl Flahavan
14 Striker Sean Scannell
15 Defender Lee Hills
16 Striker Freddie Sears (on loan from West Ham United)
17 Defender Matthew Lawrence
18 Striker Calvin Andrew
19 Striker Alan Lee
20 Defender Danny Butterfield
22 Defender Johannes Ertl
24 Defender Claude Davis
25 Striker Nathaniel Pinney
26 Midfield Kieron Cadogan
28 Midfield James Comley
29 Midfield Ryan Smith
30 Defender Michael Abnett
31 Midfield Hakeem Adelakun
32 Striker Matthew Wright
33 Midfield Alassane N'Diaye
The Rams:
Quotes from the manager:
From the BBC following Tuesday's defeat;
"We thought it was a foul on Kris Commons (before the second goal)".
"Their players stopped and our players stopped. I'm not sure whether it was offside or not, but we've still got to defend it better. We seem to be getting punished at the moment for every little thing".
"There were an awful lot of strange decisions. It's very frustrating when we're battling for everything and we can't get a decision".
"We're not looking for any favours, we're not looking for anything we don't deserve, we're just looking for run-of-the-mill decisions being given correctly."
Current Rams Squad:
No. Position Player
1 Keeper Stephen Bywater
2 Defender Paul Connolly (captain)
3 Defender James McEveley
4 Midfielder Paul Green Injured
5 Defender Miles Addison (vice-captain)
6 Defender Dean Leacock
7 Midfielder Lee Croft
8 Midfielder Robbie Savage
9 Striker Rob Hulse
10 Midfielder Kris Commons
11 Midfielder Gary Teale
12 Striker Chris Porter Injured
13 Keeper Saul Deeney
14 Defender Shaun Barker
15 Striker Luke Varney
16 Midfielder Stephen Pearson
17 Defender Jake Buxton
18 Midfielder Ben Pringle
19 Midfielder Giles Barnes Injured
20 Midfielder Steve Davies Injured
21 Midfielder Dean Moxey
22 Midfielder Arnaud Mendy
-- Striker Paul Dickov
-- Striker James Vaughan
What the Bookies think:
Home Win: 23/20
Draw: 11/5
Away win: 19/10
First Scorer: Alan Lee 11/2
Information for travelling fans:
Driving: This is my least favourite journeys as a football fan. It takes forever to get there and back from and the ground is in one of the least inspiring parts of the country. Its 140 miles down the M1 to the M25.Take the M25 anti-clockwise to J7 then and follow the signs for the A23 to Croydon. At Purley bear left onto the A23 at its junction with the A 235 (to Croydon).
You will pass roundabouts and junctions with the A232 and A236 as you pass Croydon, after which the A23 bears left at Thornton Heath (at the Horseshoe pub roundabout). Here you must go straight over, into Brigstock Road (B266), passing Thornton Heath Station on your left and bearing right on to the High Street. At the next mini roundabout, (Whitehorse Road/Grange Road) go left into Whitehorse Lane. The ground is on your right.
Parking: Most of the street parking that used to be available is now resident only however there are now some pay and display car parks in the area.
Drinking: lots of places to drink around Selhurst and it’s one of the few places left were home and away fans seem to mingle. There are a few Wetherspoons outlets in the area. The William Stanley in the High Street near Norwood Junction seems to be the place to go.
Mick’s Prediction:
Let’s get one thing out of the way - the referee was poor on Tuesday night. His assistants were looking to him for every decision which didn't help, but at the end of the day he missed too much and got too much wrong.
That doesn't excuse the poor performance on the pitch. You can claim as much as you want that this is a re-building season etc, and lambaste fans for voicing their opinions but we don't pay to watch re-building - we pay to watch the best performing team we can put out. Does the club reduce prices when we're re-building? Or do they warn at the start of the season that it's going to be poor?
They do not and they and the local media should not complain if the fans aren't happy.
Too many of the same mistakes are being made as we made in previous seasons. Giving the ball away, arguing with the officials, no plan B when the tactics don't work. A reliance on the ridiculous Prozone system. Poor substitutions, relying on uninterested loan players ... been there, done that, watched the relegation.
Mick's team:
Bywater, Barker, Addison, Leacock, Moxey, Savage, Hendrie, Livermore, Pearson, Croft, Hulse
Subs: Connolly, Teale, McEverley, Commons, Vaughan, Pringle, Dickov, Mendy
Prediction:
Crystal Palace 0-2 Derby County