December 29 2002

Trevor Francis

Trevor Francis was delighted with Tommy Black's return to form after a poor game against Portsmouth.

Black responded well after Francis had a word with him about it and scored both Palace goals in the 2-0 win at home to Preston.

Francis said: "Over recent weeks he's been our man of the match, but he had his poorest game against Portsmouth.

"I will accept when things don't happen for him when he's got the ball, but he's got to work hard when he doesn't have it.

"I wanted a reaction from him and he was back today making the headlines and rightly so. He worked so hard to close down the opposition.

"The first goal was a great header and we have only lost once this season when we go ahead. We were good value for 2-0."

Francis added: "The play-offs have been our aim since the start of the season, but we've been decimated by injury.

"We will continue to improve because we're getting players back to full fitness."