Holloway: Palace must regroup

Ian Holloway is looking forward to getting his Crystal Palace squad together to regroup after their defeat at Manchester United.

Palace went down 2-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday and, although manager Holloway refused to fault his team for effort, he indicated that the international break had an impact on them – particularly as they had to play more than 45 minutes with 10 men after Kagisho Dikgacoi’s controversial dismissal.

“I think you could tell that (Adrian) Mariappa and (Danny) Gabbidon played in the week, by the end of that I felt sorry for them, they could hardly get up, could they?” the former Blackpool boss said.

“But we are just going to get stronger, we need to, we need to realise what we did, look at what we got wrong and I just believe it’s about getting the group together, I am delighted with the group, I am really pleased with them after that.”

However, Holloway’s task is not made any easier by the lengthy injury list at Selhurst Park, with Joel Ward the latest player set for a spell on the sidelines.

“We lost Jack Hunt last week with a broken leg, no one was near him, and Wardy has got a calf tear so he’s likely to be out next week,” he added.

“We’ve lost little Jonny Williams as well, but you know, that’s what squads are for.

“I was pleased with the new boys who came on, they got a taste of it and now we will have at least seven days to actually work them into something.”