CRYSTAL Palace have snapped up midfielder Owen Garvan from Ipswich Town for an undisclosed fee.

The 22-year-old has been capped by his country at U21 level, appearing in the same side for the Republic Of Ireland as Sean Scannell.

He made the step up at Ipswich through the academy set up and made his first team debut as a substitute in 2004/5 aged just 16, and his full debut was in August 2006.

Garvan was pleased to be making the move to SE25.

He said: “I am delighted to have signed for Crystal Palace.

“Hopefully this season I can play a bit more football, that is what I am wanting to do and hopefully everything goes well for myself and the club.

“At Ipswich things did not really work out and I think the manager realised that.

“As a footballer I just want to play games and play in the Championship and I am just thankful to the manager for giving me this chance and hopefully I can repay him with good performances and good results.”

Garvan added: “He just tried to sell the club to me and the main thing is he said that I would get more game time here than you would at Ipswich.

“I could not wait around at Ipswich any longer as last season I was on the bench and getting frustrated and hopefully a new challenge will be good for me.

“There are a few ex-Ipswich players here and I know Sean although it is unfortunate for him to have picked up the knee injury and may be out for a little while. “When you come to a new club there are different staff and new lads to meet and this is part and parcel of a move.”

Palace kick off the new campaign against Leicester at Selhurst Park on Saturday (3pm).