Crystal Palace Football Club News

• Nickname:The Eagles
• Founded:1905
• Manager:Dougie Freedman

• Ground:Selhurst Park
• Capacity:26,309

Warnock stands by Lawrence

09 Sep 2008 - 11:58:45

Click To Enlarge

Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock has backed defender Matt Lawrence to recover from a horror show in the 4-2 defeat by Reading.

Lawrence's poor display allowed Kevin Doyle to bag a hat-trick for the Royals, but Warnock hopes that that is all in the past.

He told the South London Press: "We haven't done anything different in training, except we're working on set-pieces a lot.

"Matt was at fault against Reading and that was unusual because he's usually one of my best players. Apart from the marking at corners, he had a good game.

"I've had a chat with Matty about it. He lost concentration and he said he's sorry and that display won't affect his place in the team."

Meanwhile, Warnock has confirmed that wantaway midfielder Ben Watson is set to feature against Swansea City this weekend.

The 23-year-old was set to leave the Eagles on transfer deadline day, but no move materialised and the exit of Tom Soares to Stoke City means that Watson is back in the fold.