The winning run under Neil Warnock came to an end at the KC Stadium. It was a disappointing result but as Iain Dowie once said, hopefully we will show some ‘bouncebackability’.
Hull City have spent well in the summer and on the day deserved their win with Diame and Jelavic scoring the goals to sink Palace.
Zi-Dann injury
Coming away with a defeat is hard enough, but to compounding the misery was one of our most influential players injured with what looked like serious ligament damage.
It came from nothing. Blocking a Tom Huddlestone shot, Scott Dann collapsed in a heap. Seeing a player stretchered off is never a good sign, particularly when it is your most influential centre back.
Here at TEB we affectionately refer to him ‘Zi-Dann’ just as fans of his former clubs did. It will be a huge a blow if he is out for a long period time. That is what the transfer window was about, building the squad depth was priority. We have an able replacement in Brede Hangeland.
There is no denying that Scott Dann is the linchpin of our defence, Damien Delaney just looks so much more composed under Dann’s leadership. Could Hangeland’s presence upset the dynamic of the back four?
Compared to recent games the defending looked a little suspect on Saturday. Hull are a good side and have some great attacking players at their disposal. They certainly took advantage when Dann departed the field.
I would like to think that if Dann was on the field for the Diame goal, it could have been prevented as the Senegalese striker drifted in and had a free header. He was not going to miss from their in the form he is currently in.
Lack of attacking cut and thrust
The major disappointment for me was our attacking play. In recent weeks we have had that verve, flair and unpredictability about our play but on Saturday it vanished.
Yannick Bolasie and Jason Puncheon started but the latter did not have the best of games. The ever excitable Bolasie was marshalled well by the Hull backline. Bolasie did have a vicious shot that stung the hands of the City goalkeeper but other than that our attacking play was poor. It is very rare I say it but we never looked like scoring a goal in the game.
In other games we have had our moments but Saturday was just one of those days. Maybe the ‘prodigal son’ might get a chance. Zaha has been kept out of the team by Puncheon’s superb performances but it could be the right time to unleash him. It will give us a little something, another direct approach on the opposite wing. I want to see Zaha hit his potential again. Come on Neil, loosen the shackles and let him explode onto the scene.
Looking ahead
I just want to briefly look ahead to our next six fixture. We sure have some tough games coming up but in amongst those games there are opportunities for us to pick up points. Against the big boys, we will not be expected to but we have done it before, when people dared to right us off.
- 18th October – Chelsea at Selhurst Park
- 25th October – West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns
- 3rd November – Sunderland at Selhurst Park
- 8th November – Manchester United at Old Trafford
- 23rd November – Liverpool at Selhurst Park
- 29th November – Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium
We will sit back and try to enjoy watching England now that the international break is upon us again. It was nice to see former Palace graduate Nathaniel Clyne get a call up, it is well deserved.
Palace will resume Premier League duties against Chelsea on 18th October. Let us go and do a spot of giant killing.
