 Friday, 13th Apr 2012 13:48 Boss Paul Jewell admits that he already has half an eye on next season as the Blues go to Crystal Palace on Saturday with the current campaign over from a competitive perspective. Despite this, the Town manager is keen to end 2011/12 on a high note. Jewell said: “We’ve got half an eye on next year but results are very important, and also performances going forward are equally as important because it looks like we’re not going to make the play-offs. “At one stage it looked like we were going to be involved in a relegation fight, but we got out of that and we’re mid-table and we have got half an eye on next season.” Nevertheless, he hopes the recent run of good form will continue in the final weeks: “We want to be positive and we want to try and get a winning habit and winning culture in the club.” Jewell admits that the Blues have “probably stayed still from where we were last season” over 2011/12 as a whole and says that mid-table in this division is no big achievement for either him or his players. However, he believes there have been signs of progress in the last third of the campaign: “We’ve taken 28 points out of the last 15 matches, which if you multiply it by three is 84 points. “The third of the season we’ve just had has been good. But if you take the seven games where we never got a point, that’s relegation form. “That sums us up. We’ve had some really good performances, some really good results, some really poor performances and some really poor results. “I think over the last 15 games we’ve hit a little bit of consistency and that was the biggest problem that we’ve had.” Even so, the last few games have still shown signs that there is work to be done on that front with his side having been inconsistent during those matches: “Look at three out of our last four games — Watford Derby and Leicester — in the first half of all them we were very good but in the second half we were very average. “It’s nothing to do with fitness levels. You’re not going to dominate games for 90 minutes but we’ve got to be in games for longer than 45 minutes.” Jewell has been impressed with the way Dougie Freedman has taken to management at Selhurst Park: “They have been excellent, I think Dougie’s done a great job there. He’s got one or two really promising youngsters who are going to be worth a lot of money in the transfer market. “They’ve also got some good experienced players - Darren Ambrose, Anthony Gardner, Julian Speroni, Paddy McCarthy, Glenn Murray. They’re all experienced players at this level and some of them above. “He’s done really well. I think they’ve been the opposite to us in that they’ve hardly conceded goals this season, they’ve been very tight at the back. “They play a formation which is difficult to break down and they’ve been built on counter-attacking football. Playing away from home can at times suit them. It’ll be a tough game, like every game in this league is, and I think it’ll be a tight game.” Having made changes for Monday’s home defeat to Leicester, Jewell has suggested that a few of the players rested against the Foxes could come back into the team. The Blues boss may also weigh up whether to give some of the players on the fringes a run-out. Arran Lee-Barrett will keep his place in goal with Richard Wright ruled out with a minor niggle. Cody Cropper will be on the bench. Full-backs Carlos Edwards and Aaron Cresswell will keep their places with Tommy Smith and Damien Delaney expected to continue in the centre of the defence. In midfield, Andy Drury could come back in for Lee Bowyer alongside Grant Leadbitter, while Jay Emmanuel-Thomas could replace Josh Carson on the right of midfield with Daryl Murphy on the left. Lee Martin could return in place of Ryan Stevenson in the role behind the lone striker, although the Scot did well against the Foxes before tiring, while Jason Scotland may have done enough to keep his place up front ahead of Michael Chopra. Jewell has said that 16-year-old midfielder Byron Lawrence could make his debut before the end of the season but we understand hasn't made the trip to Palace. Jimmy Bullard is ill, while the firmly out-of-favour Jaime Peters is the only other player unavailable due to a thigh strain. Palace boss Dougie Freedman could field a young side with defender Paul McShane (hip) a doubt and ex-Blue David Wright (calf), midfielders Jonny Williams (hamstring) and Mile Jedinak (groin), and defender Anthony Gardner (also hamstring) all sidelined for the remainder of the campaign. Selhurst Park became a home for Town old boys during former Blues boss George Burley’s brief tenure last season with Wright, who previously played for Paul Jewell at Wigan, Owen Garvan, Darren Ambrose and Lewis Price all still amongst the playing staff. Former Town academy schoolboy Stuart O’Keefe joined the Eagles from Southend in the summer of 2010 summer, having been released by the Blues at 16. Now 21, the Bury St Edmunds-born midfielder has been a regular starter in recent weeks. Another midfielder Andy Dorman, who is currently on loan at Bristol Rovers, spent time training with the Blues back in 2005 when a New England Revolution player. By contrast, only Mark Kennedy from Paul Jewell’s current squad has played for Crystal Palace, while goalkeeper-coach Malcolm Webster was on Burley’s staff at Selhurst Park. Richard Wright spent time training with the Eagles at the start of 2010/11 before joining Sheffield United. Town have the edge over the years, winning 31 games between the sides (29 in the league), drawing 23 (23) and losing 25 (25). The Eagles have lost their last three matches, two of them at home, and are without a win in five games. Palace, who are 16th, one place below Town, are two points behind the Blues on 54. At Portman Road in October, Paddy McCarthy’s goal 10 minutes after the break was enough to give Crystal Palace a 1-0 victory at Portman Road, ending Town’s six-game unbeaten run. The Blues, who had Aaron Cresswell sent off for a second yellow card late on, were second best throughout. Back in the opening month of 2010/11, Town picked up their second away win of last season as Roy Keane’s side beat George Burley’s Eagles 2-1 in an ill-tempered clash at Selhurst Park, both teams ending the match with 10 men. Grant Leadbitter netted a penalty just after the break, Claude Davis having been sent off for a foul on Jon Stead, then Carlos Edwards added the second, prior to loanee Andros Townsend making an early exit for a wild challenge on Palace keeper Julian Speroni and Neil Danns pulling a late goal back for the home side. Saturday’s referee is Fred Graham from Stanford-le-Hope in Essex, who has shown 84 yellow and four red cards in 36 games so far this season. Graham’s last Town match was the 5-1 thrashing of West Ham at Portman Road in January when he booked Lee Martin and two Hammers and awarded the Blues a penalty but failed to send off George McCartney for what looked like a textbook professional foul. Squad from: Lee-Barrett, Cropper, Edwards, Cresswell, Smith, Delaney, Sonko, Ainsley, Drury, Hyam, Leadbitter, Bowyer, Stevenson, Emmanuel-Thomas, Murphy, Carson, Martin, Scotland, Chopra, Ellington.
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