October 18 2006

Peter Taylor

Peter Taylor insists he is strong enough to cope with the boos after Palace were rubbished by their own fans.

Taylor's side were jeered from the Selhurst Park pitch following a 2-0 defeat against West Brom on Tuesday that left them 12 points adrift of the leaders.

It was also Palace's second home defeat in four days and Taylor knows he must turn the dismal recent run around quickly if he is to avoid more abuse from the boo-boys.

He said: "If we were top of the table, I would be feeling quite proud of myself, so I will take the grief when are not doing so well.

"I can understand the crowd's reaction. They pay good money to watch us, and we have been second best in our last two home matches.

"But this has happened to me before during my career as a manager, and it is important for us to stay strong and to stay together.

"We have to work hard to put this right."

Palace were easily outplayed by resurgent West Brom and goals from Zoltan Gera and Diomansy Kamara sealed the points for the Baggies.

Taylor has told his players they must not dwell on the defeat and he said: "The players didn't give the crowd a great deal of reason to get behind them.

"But if they feel sorry for themselves, they will get lower and lower. If we stay strong, we can get over this little hurdle."