Source: Team_Talk
Strach 'frustrated' by wasteful Boro
Former Celtic boss Strachan, who replaced Gareth Southgate at the helm a fortnight ago, saw his new side draw a blank for the first time on the road this season as they crashed to a second straight defeat at Selhurst Park.[LNB]The visitors fluffed four clear-cut chances to score, while at the other end Darren Ambrose showed them how it should be done when he applied the finishing touch to a sweeping Palace counter-attack midway through the second half.[LNB]"When you have chances like that and you don't take them you have a problem, luck has nothing to do with it," said Strachan.[LNB]"It's frustrating, just like last week against Plymouth when our best player, Adam Johnson, missed a penalty.[LNB]"It's frustrating for me, it's frustrating for the players who work so hard and it's frustrating for the fans."[LNB]Marcus Bent, on his full debut, came up with a shocking miss when Johnson found him in front of goal, the on-loan Birmingham striker shanking his shot horribly wide.[LNB]Worse was to come when a Boro break left lone Palace defender Danny Butterfield outnumbered four to one.[LNB]But Leroy Lita inexplicably opted not to square the ball as his three unmarked team-mates pleaded for a pass and, having been forced wide by Butterfield, shot harmlessly across goal.[LNB]"That was a bit surreal," admitted Strachan, "I just thought 'what's going on'?"[LNB]Boro were made to pay in the 65th minute when Palace broke the deadlock in style.[LNB]From the visitors' corner, Shaun Derry fed Alan Lee, who surged forward and swung in a diagonal cross which Neil Danns nodded on for Ambrose to finish.[LNB]Boro should still have rescued a point, but Palace keeper Julian Speroni pulled off a superb save to deny Gary O'Neil as he raced through and also blocked a late shot from substitute Jonathan Franks.[LNB]"That was just an average game for Julian," smiled Eagles boss Neil Warnock. "It was a bit hairy at the end and that's when character comes in."[LNB]Ambrose took his tally for the season to 10 - not a bad return for a player snapped up on a free transfer after being released by Charlton in the summer.[LNB]"I was so pleased it fell to him," added Warnock. "It's not my fault someone gave him away. I bid £1.5million for him once - that's how much I rate him.[LNB]"He needs a certain type of manager and we make a good pairing.[LNB]"But I think we had 11 stars out there."[LNB][LNB]
