Two goals in three outings for 19-year-old Palace striker JK Gordon is not a bad return at all, particularly for a young man who is experiencing his first loan away from his parent club.
“I’m really pleased with that,” manager Paul Simpson said. “I thought he had some other chances as well.
“I thought there was one where he tried to go round the goalkeeper and he should have finished it earlier. That will come with games and experience and a little bit of footballing nous, he could maybe even have done that and got a penalty with the next one.
“He’s showing some really good things, there are lots of areas he needs to improve on, but he’s had a fantastic start and hopefully he carries on.”
“It was great composure for his goal and he’s earned it because he’s battled away up front,” he continued. “I thought he was a little bit unlucky with the yellow card he got.
“He isn’t the sort of player who is malicious enough to throw an elbow, he’s just put his arm up to try and get his balance and protect himself, and he’s caught the defender in the face, or wherever it was.
“I thought the card was a little bit harsh and thankfully nothing else came of any of the yellow cards we got. The big one that disappoints me is that referees tell us that our captain is the one who should go and speak to him, so Morgan did that and he was booked for it.
“I don’t really get that. Hey, listen, I don’t think it was the referee’s day today. Thankfully it hasn’t cost us. And we have to mention Kris Dennis as well.
“He didn’t get his goal, but he’s still doing a job for the team. He got an assist today, if he gets an assist and somebody else scores and we win 1-0, we’ll all go home happy.
“And helping back to front was Callum Guy. He’s in great form at the moment and I know he enjoys that screening role.
“He’s thriving in that position. It was a proper working performance from everybody because we’ve had to tackle and compete and we’ve had to run.
“That’s football, they’re the basics, and if you do that right the football follows from it. Maybe, on not too many occasions, the football came out and I can deal with that. Sometimes you need to just find a way to win.”