Two years ago, Terry Venables was sacked as Eagles boss after a mauling at the Reebok Stadium. But Palace's heroic 3-3 draw with Bolton on Saturday night might just have turned the tide for Alan Smith. After Grimsby consigned Palace to their sixth successive defeat last week, it looked as if the disgruntled fans who chanted "sack Smith or we're going down" might have got their wish.

And with Smith lifting the lid on the turmoil in the Palace camp, claiming his players had a "poor attitude" and accusing them of "living in a fantasy world", the Eagles looked well and truly grounded. The only Eagles who looked like taking off were Clinton Morrison, Hayden Mullins and Jamie Smith - but only by virtue of a place on the transfer list.

But that no nonsense approach from the Eagle's boss paid dividends against Bolton.

The Trotters were strolling to victory when they found themselves 3-1 up with just 13 minutes remaining.

A bullet header from Dougie Freedman - his first goal since returning to Palace - cancelled out a 20th minute opener from Gudni Bergsson.

But two goals in three minutes from substitute Michael Ricketts and Per Frandsen looked to have sealed the win for Sam Allardyce's men.

However, a resilient Palace had other ideas, and Freedman's second goal of the afternoon gave the Eagles hope with three minutes remaining.

And Morrison, the temporary villain, went a long way to regaining his hero status by firing an emotional injury time equaliser.

Afterwards, the 21-year-old hit-man admitted that he had previously shown a bad attitude and argued with training staff but insisted that he wanted to stay with the Eagles.

Palace take on a resurgent Sheffield Wednesday this Saturday at Selhurst Park.