Coventry 1-1 Palace

I wouldn't want to know what the odds are for Darren Ambrose to score after thirty or so minutes and Palace to draw 1-1 but they must be getting slimmer by the week.

The inform playmaker was once again in top form as we came away from the Ricoh with yet another good away point. We seem to be very hard to beat and this result leaves us beaten just once in eleven games which under the circumstances is excellent. It's a shame we could not hold onto the three points but we were on the back-foot throughout the second half and it was a powerful header by Irish forward Leon Best.

He was probably the stand-out player in a game which was hampered by torrential rain and blustery gales, making flowing, passing moves few and far between.The draw was a fair result and Neil Warnock will be further buoyed by the return to action of Calvin Andrew after a long lay-off. The youngster came on for a late cameo and nearly scored with his first touch of the game. I for one am looking forward to the impact this yet unproven player can make to our goal-shy side in the coming months.

Another bright note will be the return to the bench of Paddy McCarthy. We will need him over the tough Christmas period if we are to have the necessary defensive cover unlike last year when his injury de-railed our season.

Coventry v Palace- Preview

So after yet another meaningless international break that involved no Palace players we're finally back in action and hoping to continue our fine form. Tomorrows game will see us go up against two more former Palace men as we travel to the Ricoh Arena to face a Coventry side bereft of confidence.

Clinton Morrison will go down in Palace folk-law as a legend and not just for his 113 goals in 316 appearances in red and blue. His charisma was phenomenal, as was his passion for the club which he has insisted he wants to return to before his playing days are over. He was approachable and had a good rapport with the area and the fans and obviously you can't forget about his mums interviews on Talksport when he first broke through.

Coventry manager Chris Coleman will also get a great reception from the Palace faithful. He was an integral member of the Division One championship winning side of 1994 where he built up a great centre-back pairing with Gareth Southgate. Let's hope Coleman's side have the same fate as Southgate's former side Middlesbrough did just before the break.

The omens are good for a repeat performance, Coventry are bottom of the form table and are in a dismal run of results that has left them taking just two points out of a possible eighteen. Conversely We're on a hot streak at the moment as we look to extend our unbeaten run to five games, we haven't lost to coventry since 2004 and have won every game at the Ricoh Arena. All the signs point towards a Palace victory but I've watched us for too long to believe statistics especially considering the last time we returned to action after an international break and got beaten 4-0 by Scunthorpe.

Sean Scannel will miss the game after picking up a thigh injury for the Ireland U21's but that shouldn't have to much baring on the outcome of this one; he's been very poor this season and his number of appearances have reflected this. Paddy McCarthy remains out with a dislocated shoulder and will be for some time yet.

Other than that there are no new injury concerns and Darren Ambrose should make his 250th club career appearance as he goes in search of his fifth goal in five games.

Keiran Westwood should return for the sky blues which is a little worrying as his ability will further diminish our potential for goals. After all we still only have four names on the goal scorers list which needs to amended sooner rather later. I'm predicting a score draw but we can always hope for better. Here's hoping!

Coventry away: My experiences

Coventry away has been a rich hunting ground for palace in recent years; we often score four!

But it has not always been that way. The first experience of this fixture came on the last game of the 2004 season when we needed a victory against a poor mid-table side with a new manager to secure a spot in the play-offs. Typically, Palace failed to do this and instead lost 2-1 after missing a hatful of chances. Fortunately irony came to the rescue as West Ham’s Brian Deane produced that famous goal and the rest as they say is history.

The last time I travelled to Coventry however was a far different affair as Palace turned up all guns blazing and producing one of the best performances of Iain Dowie’s last season in charge. We won 4-1 on the day but it could easily have been more.



It was one of the first games to be played at the new £150million Ricoh Arena and I have to say I wasn’t impressed. The ground is out of town which makes it extremely difficult to get to (especially by public transport), the atmosphere was subdued and there were a lot of teething problems.

One of which was one of the strangest things I have ever heard at any game I’ve been to. Mid-way through the first half with Palace on top, the tannoy suddenly started blasting out ‘Glad all over’ at full volume. It wasn’t the most successful method of keeping the away fans quiet I have ever seen. I only wish I was there to enjoy it, unfortunately we were in the home end, although you wouldn’t have thought it seen as my mum managed to get away with celebrating all four Palace goals without a steward batting an eye lid.

We tend to travel in numbers to this fixture, so those in attendance should find a good atmosphere and with any luck a good result.

Here’s hoping!