ROY ON TRACK
<M<IP B@:B# <M<IP >F8C# <M<IP >8D<
WEST BROM (4-3-2-1): Foster 7; Nyom 7, Hegazi 7, EVANS 8, Gibbs Barry 7; 6 (Yacob 29, 7), Livermore 7, Field 7; Robson-Kanu 7 (McClean 72), Rodriguez 7 (Burke 90); Rondon 7. Subs: Myhill, Krychowiak, McAuley, Melbourne. UP NEXT: Swansea (a), Premier League, Saturday. CRYSTAL PALACE (4-2-3-1): Speroni 8; WARD 8, Kelly 6, Sakho 6, Schlupp 6; McArthur 6, Milivojevic 7; Loftus-Cheek 7, Townsend 5 (Sako 88), Zaha 8; Benteke 5. Subs: Van Aanholt, Fosu-Mensah, Puncheon, Riedewald. UP NEXT: Bournemouth (h), Premier League, Saturday. Referee: Michael Oliver 7. YOUR TURN: Who opened the scoring for Palace when they won 2-0 at Albion last season?
ROY HODGSON reckons he could well be plotting his greatest footballing escape.
He certainly had plenty of time to think over that bold statement as his Crystal Palace side endured the weekend from hell.
Delayed five hours by a train breakdown and then kept up until the early hours by a wedding, Hodgson could have been forgiven for thinking everything was conspiring against him.
Applause
His woes had only just started, though, with Hodgson saying: “Basically, anything that could go wrong, did go wrong.” Things did eventually get better. Palace got a point and Hodgson received appreciative applause from his former club’s fans – perhaps they were just congratulating him on getting there.
West Brom are famed for their 2005 Great Escape and Hodgson has also masterminded mighty turnarounds of his own at The Hawthorns and Fulham.
Palace still haven’t managed an away goal this season but this gritty draw made it five points from five games and took them off the bottom of the table.
Baby steps but Hodgson said: “Would this be the greatest? Yes, it probably would be funnily enough.
“I’ve been in charge of teams in trouble before but seven games, zero points, is probably as big a shot in the foot as you are ever going to get in the Premier League.
“So if we can avoid relegation, having done that, then that really would be something special.”
Julian Speroni came in at the last minute in goal and did superbly, making a couple of key blocks – as did Joel Ward, who was throwing himself in the way of everything. Ward said: “If we can continue to build on the last few games, the wins will come. “Until we’re well out of it and looking down on a few teams, there’s no relief from being off the bottom.” For former Eagles boss Alan Pardew, this wasn’t exactly what he would have wanted but it was still encouraging enough for the new Baggies chief.
Settled
Ward’s blocks and Speroni’s saves helped keep his side at bay but they could easily have lost it.
Christian Benteke really should have settled it but missed a great headed opportunity, while Wilfried Zaha was a constant menace.
Pardew said: “I was encouraged because I’m missing five or six players you could argue might be starters, certainly three or four.
“If that’s the quality of the group I have, then we’ll be fine.”
And although it finished goalless, this game was a whole lot better than the scoreline suggested.