November 19 2004

Joonas Kolkka

Joonas Kolkka believes Palace fans are now starting to see the best of him and feels his performances are getting better every week, by Stuart Pink.

Kolkka notched his first Palace goal against his boyhood club at Anfield on Saturday and is beginning to show the sort of form that made Iain Dowie sign him from German Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monghagladbach in the summer.

Kolkka, who will be playing for Finland against Italy this week, said: "I’m feeling better and better every week because I am getting through some tough games, so you get used to it and it’s not like other leagues where you get tough games every second week, it is hard every week.

"It was nice to score and I was waiting for the first goal for me in the Premier league."

After a fairly slow start to his Palace career, Kolkka’s contribution to Palace’s revival has been pivotal in recent weeks and has firmly filled the void left by Julian Gray’s departure to Birmingham in the summer.

Kolkka’s current mood is a real contrast to last season where he struggled to make an impact in the Bundesliga with a struggling side.

Kolkka said: "Mentally it was tough for me last year because at the start of the season it was very good, but in the second half of the season I was sitting on the bench or sometimes playing.

"It was not going so well and not how I wanted it, and it was also a tough season for the whole team, we had to fight to not get relegated."

But after some impressive performances during Palace’s recent revival, Kolkka has put last year’s disappointments behind him and is starting to become a real asset to Palace.

Kit Symons feels Kolkka’s form has come as a great boost to Palace’s attempts to stay in the Premiership.

Symons said: "Joonas is a player that’s pretty much got everything in his locker and he’s done very well for us over the course of the season.

"It takes time for players to adapt to living in a new country and playing a new style of football, but I think he’s got better and better. There’s more to come from him and I think he could be a top, top player."

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