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The Story So Far
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| Town | Palace |
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That will not be easy with Grimsby Town in the form they are showing at the moment. Just one loss in nine league and cup games has seen Town rise to the dizzy heights of 3rd in the division one table. Two consecutive 1-0 wins at the start of the season against Crewe Alexander and WBA set the ball rolling, and despite loosing 4-2 to Portsmouth the run continued with a win at home to Barnsley that saw Town go top, albeit for 24 hours.
After the magnificent 1-0 win at Coventry, the unbeaten run continued with an assured display against Nottingham Forest, with Towns highest gate of the season witnessing an entertaining 0-0 draw. This gives Town nothing to fear against a big spending Crystal Palace side, who despite having quality players, seem unable to reach any form of consistency and team spirit. An art, which Grimsby are making a name for themselves with.
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Crystal Palace have endured an indifferent start to the season, picking up just six points from their first five games. Their season started off with back to back wins, a 3-2 win at newly promoted Rotherham was followed by an emphatic 4-1 win at home to Stockport County. This was followed up by a 4-2 win against third division Leyton Orient, in the Worthington Cup, which put them into the hat for the second round.
The scoreline was identical when Palace travelled to Nottingham Forest, but this time, it was Palace who were beaten. A 3-1 loss at home to Millwall knocked confidence in the Palace ranks further, but a morale boosting win on penalties against Premiership Everton, at Goodison Park lifted expectations amongst the club. But as manager Steve Bruce has said, "League points are more important than cup runs", and this was all to evident at the weekend, when Palace lost 4-2 at Fratton Park to a Portsmouth side who look as if they could be near the top of the league this year. So, after a topsy-turvey month, Palace will be looking to get back to winning ways against the Mariners.
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Recent Form
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| Town | Palace |
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| L | Portsmouth | (h) | 2-4 |
| W | Everton | (h) | 1-1 (AET)
5-4 Pens |
| L | Milwall | (a) | 1-3 |
| L | Forest | (a) | 2-4 |
| W | Orient | (h) | 4-2 |
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Leading Goalscorers (League + Cup)
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| Town | Palace |
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| Jevons | 3 |
| Jeffrey | 2 |
| Rowan | 2 |
| Pouton | 2 |
| Allen | 1 |
| Jevons | 1 |
| Burnett | 1 |
| Butterfield | 1 |
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| Freedman | 6 |
| Morrison | 5 |
| Rihilahti | 2 |
| Black | 1 |
| Smith | 1 |
| Smith | 1 |
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Town Team News
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Striker Phil Jevons is rated as "very doubtful" and is not expected to take his place in time for Tuesdays clash, after hurting his groin in Saturdays game with Forest. This means that ex Kilmarnock Mike Jeffrey will get his chance up front.
Marlon Broomes is now fit enough to start the match, and is expected to displace the injured Tony Gallimore at left back.
Former Leicester midfielder Stuart Campbell is expected to be well enough to start after having to leave the field on Saturday with food poisoning. This will mean no starting place for Wayne Burnett, despite his impressive display on Saturday.
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Palace Team News
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Craig Harrison is likely to loose his place in the starting line up, with Julian Gray, now fully fit, ready to replace him.
Palace are hoping to sign Polish midfielder Arkadiuz Bak in time for the game, but he may only be on the bench. Simon Rodger returns to the squad after injury, while it is not thought that David Hopkin is fit enough to even start on the bench.
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Expected Line Ups
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| Town | Palace |
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Danny Coyne
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| Town's player of the year last season, and is heading for that award again with some fantastic saves between the posts. |
| John McDermott |
| Mr Consistent continues to produce the goods at the back and has been an integral part of the defence that has kept five clean sheets in the league. |
| Marlon Broomes |
| Defender recently signed on loan from Blackburn. Made his mark with a debut goal in the Worthington cup vs. Sheff. Utd last week. Will deputise for the injured Gallimore. |
Paul Groves
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| The lynchpin of the Town defence, Groves’ performances have been of the highest standards this season, once again. |
| David Beharall |
| The on-loan defender from Newcastle has shown his calmness in many difficult situations this year, and surely attempts must be made to sign him for the season. |
| Stuart Campbell |
| Signed for what now seems a bargain £200,000, Campbell will give his all in a role wide on the left that saw him flourish all last season, and hopefully all this season. |
Alan Pouton
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| All action midfielder Alan Pouton may not possess the passing skills of David Beckham, but he more than makes up for it with 110% passion and guts, making him a fans favourite. |
| Menno Willems |
| Dutch midfielder signed from Vitesse Arnhem last season, Menno’s tougness and thundering shots from midfield have made him a big part in Towns early season success. |
Danny Butterfield
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| Has made the transition from right back to midfield with ease, showing composure on the ball and willingness to break forward at all times. |
| Mike Jeffrey |
| After an indifferent spell last season, the former Doncaster forward looks to have settled down in the Town team and has given some solid displays up front to far this year, scoring 2 goals along the way. |
Johnny Rowan
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| Lively striker who burst onto the scene last season with a goal against Wolves in the Worthington Cup. Now a regular member of the Town squad. |
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Matt Clarke
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| A £1 million after signing from 1st division rivals Bradford, Clarke will look to beat off competition from Latvian Aleks Kolinko for the No. 1 jersey. |
| Jamie Smith |
| An attacking right wing back who chips in with the odd goal. His progress has been halted with a string of injuries in recent seasons. |
| Julian Gray |
| Started his career with Arsenal along with Tommy Black, Gray has settled down well down the left flank with some pin point crossing and ferocious shots. |
Tony Popovic
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| One of Steve Bruce’s first signings of the summer. He signed Popovic to plug a leaky defence, but it has already let in 14 goals. |
| Dean Austin |
| Vice Captain Dean Austin, formerly of Spurs, leads by example with his determination and consistency making him a firm fans favourite. |
| Johan Kirovski |
| American midfielder who on Tuesday night will make his home debut due to the absence of David Hopkin. |
| Rihilahti |
| Finnish international midfielder who was signed from Norwegian club Valerenga in March. |
Simon Rodger
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| Club Captain Simon Rodger is the only survivor from the clubs 1994/95 Premiership season. Rodger missed much of last season through injury but in his testimonial year, will be looking to lead his team to bigger and better things. |
Hayden Mullins
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| The versatile Hayden Mullins is a player who can always be relied on to get a few goals. Last year was not the best for Hayden, after being capped by England U21’s the year before, but now will want to hold down a regular place in the Eagles midfield. |
| Clinton Morrison |
| Came on leaps and bounds last year after rising through the Palace ranks. He is now a representative of the Republic of Ireland and has been tipped by many in the game to go onto bigger and better things. |
Dougie Freedman
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| Rejoined the Eagles in October last year and after scoring the goal that kept Palace up, on the last day of last season, he has started where he left off, scoring six goals. |
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| Subs | Subs |
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| Ben Chapman |
| Wayne Burnett |
| Bradley Allen |
| Michael Boulding |
| Ronald Ermes (GK) |
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| Tommy Black |
| Craig Harrison |
| Arkadiuz Bak |
| Gregg Berhalter |
| Aleks Kolinko (GK) |
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Recent Meetings
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Palace Head-to-Head
(63rd on The Opposition Ladder).
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Prediction For Game
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With Palace leaking goals badly, Town simply have to take advantage of their frailties. However Palace have scored 12 in the league themselves and will be dangerous on the break. So, we’ll go for an entertaining 2-2 draw.
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