Crystal Palace manager Trevor Francis was the guest for a Fans Night at Selhurst Park last Wednesday.

He told a packed Stephenson Lounge that the team have improved since his appointment in November.

He said: "I believe that the team has got a lot stronger over the last few weeks.

"When Steve Bruce went, it had a bearing.

"The one thing you don't do is give the players excuses, and they had too many when there wasn't a manager there.

"The one thing that alarmed me when I came was the number of goals conceded which added up to too many defeats. It was unusual to be so high in the league with so many defeats.

"We needed to bring in good defenders as individuals.

"They need to be good as a unit and that comes from working with them on the training field.

"I'm sure everyone in this room will have been absolutely thrilled with the way we are starting to defend.

"You need players who are prepared to get themselves hurt, risk getting cut eyes for the sake of the team.

"I feel we've got that with the likes of Curtis Fleming, Danny Granville and Kit Symons.

"The clean sheet at Stockport was the first since October and we followed it up with just one goal conceded against Gillingham and another clean sheet against Rotherham, so I'm very pleased."

Francis praised his players and he felt that Alex Kolinko and Clinton Morrison had performed particularly well in the last few games.

He added: "Alex has been absolutely tremendous and I'm very, very pleased with him.

"There's no suggestion of me changing things at the moment because Alex has been fantastic. He's in the team on merit and it's up to him to stay in it.

"And in Freedman and Morrison we have two of the league's most outstanding goalscorers.

"If I'd had them when I was at Birmingham, then they'd be in the Premiership now.

"The one thing that I'm absolutely convinced about is that we will get stronger as a club as the season progresses.

"We've got a really good chance of being in that top six, and I wouldn't even rule out a top two spot because you can see how things change quickly in this division."

Francis ended the night by thanking the fans for their support.

The Palace boss was impressed with the club's away following, and said that this was always appreciated by the team. I've got nothing but admiration for the way you've got behind the players, especially away from home.

"There's no better feeling than going to an away ground and hearing Palace supporters getting behind the team."

January 30, 2002 18:00