Poortvliet: We gave it away

Saints manager Jan Poortvliet admits that his side gave the game to Palace in the first half last night:’I think we gave it away in the first 15 minutes,’ Poortvliet said. ‘We didn’t start sharply and waited until we were two goals behind until we started playing, but even then I never thought that we looked like scoring.’

Both sides were on the back of Saturday fixtures, and two games in three days can be demanding for the team and Poortvliet was not pleased with how some of his players did not turn up last night.

‘We had three or four players who were not there tonight, but having said that a lot of players were good, in my view. Lloyd James, Cork, Surman, Perry, Wotton, Adam all did o.k, but a couple didn’t do enough in my eyes though.’

The Saints are preparing for the 253 mile trip north to Burnley this Saturday, and manager Jan Poortvliet will have some strong words for his young side following last night`s performance.

‘We lost here today but we can win on Saturday at Burnley because it can make us realize what we were missing today. I’m not happy with what I saw, but we need a highly motivated team for Saturday and believe me that’s what we’ll get.’