Palace begin a hugely important February fixture list tonight with a six-pointer away at bottom-placed West Brom.
The game at The Hawthorns is the first of a run that also sees Palace play home matches against Bolton and Birmingham over the next few weeks.
With no more games before April apart from Chelsea and Arsenal (away) and Man United (home) – the West Brom, Bolton, Birmingham games appear vital to Palace’s hopes of staying up.
Iain Dowie has been boosted by the return to fitness of Joonas Kolkka, who managed an hour of a reserve run-out last week. Kolkka may not be quite ready to start the match, but will be guaranteed at least a place on the bench.
More good news is that Aki Riihilahti is also expected to make a comeback after recovering from a calf injury.
West Brom did what Palace couldn’t do yesterday and made a deadline-day signing – but the capture of Richard Chaplow from Burnley came too late for the midfielder to be eligible for tonight’s game.
However, Baggies boss Bryan Robson does have two other new players – Kevin Campbell and loan signing Kieron Richardson – to include in his squad tonight.
The home side will be full of confidence after last week’s 2-0 home win over Manchester City – but the Baggies have never won back-to-back Premiership matches. Palace, meanwhile, have not managed a win at The Hawthorns for nearly ten years.
Given those stats, a draw looks on the cards. A win, however, would be priceless for either side.
Probable Palace XI
Kiraly
Boyce Sorondo Hall Granville
Routledge Watson Riihilahti Hughes Lakis
Johnson