Every Eagle has his price says Coppell

Saturday's 3-1 victory over Grimsby continued a six game unbeaten run for the Eagles, leaving them 10 points off a play-off place and a comfortable 10 places above the drop zone.

But with a staggering £22m debt outweighing estimated assets of £13m, and the transfer deadline looming, Steve Coppell was forced to admit that every Eagle has his price.

"There are those I would definitely not like to lose but that's out of my control.

"If someone comes in with a big offer for one of the promising babies, we'd have to listen to it," he said.

With the need for quick cash growing with every money-draining second, the temptation would be to off-load players as quickly as possible to lighten the load on Palace's bulging wage bill.

The Eagles boss realises the importance of remaining financially astute and not showing the recklessness that plunged Palace into debt at the start of the

Goldberg era.

"We're not going to be stupid and just give players away," said Coppell.

But Coppell was under no illusions as to what might be in store before the transfer deadline date.

"Unless we can get fresh investment there's pressure to sell players which is a shame because the last few games have shown that they're capable of doing something in this division," said Coppell.

Two of the players Palace will be desperate to hold on to are Coppell babes Clinton Morrison and Hayden Mullins. The pair blitzed Grimsby with three goals in as many minutes after Paul Groves had given the visitors an 11th minute lead.

In the 44th minute, 19-year-old Morrison mopped up after the keeper spilled Lee Bradbury's shot and his bullet header a minute later sent the majority of the 15,228 crowd into raptures.

England U21 international Mullins finished the job a minute after the break with a clever finish from Bradbury's through ball.

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