Crystal Palace's poor away form may be due to a variety of reasons, but it curiously coincides with a wretched sequence by striker Clinton Morrison.

Remarkably, Morrison has failed to score away from Selhurst Park in the Eagles' last 16 league games 13 this and three last season prior to last Saturday's match at Bradford City.

In fact, in the whole of 2001 he netted just twice in 22 away games the last being in the 4-1

defeat at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wed-nesday on April 14.

Compare that to Morrison's 14 "home" goals in 13 league games this season. His away blight started after Palace suffered a 5-0 second leg drubbing at Liverpool in the Worthington Cup last season.

After saying he would have "put away" Michael Owen's missed chances in the first leg, which Palace won 2-1, he took a lot of "stick" from the Anfield crowd. It clearly affected his confidence and his lack of goals since saw the Eagles plummet from the safety of the top half of the table into a last-day relegation dogfight.

Contrast this with his strike partner Dougie Freedman, who signed for his second spell with the club in October 2000.

He scored nine of his 11 league goals away, including two in the crucial 4-2 win over their arch relegation rivals Portsmouth at Fratton Park and the 87th minute winner at Stockport, which ensured Palace's Division One survival.

This season, Freedman's 14 goals have been equally divided with seven at home and seven away.

Meanwhile, Palace boss Trevor Francis has made his first signing by securing Manchest-er City's left-back Danny Granville for £500,000.

December 31, 2001 09:30