November 12 2007

Clinton Morrison

Clinton Morrison has spoken of his relief after finally scoring his magic 100th Crystal Palace goal.

The Tooting-born striker hit the century mark when he got Palace's equaliser in the 1-1 draw against QPR in Saurday.

Morrison, 28, had been stuck on the nervous 99 since August and admits reaching the triple figure milestone was bothering him.

"It was definitely playing on my mind," he said. "I was in and out of the team under Peter Taylor and before Saturday I've had one start under the new gaffer. As a striker you always go through periods when you lack confidence.

"Everyone knows I'm a loud person but over the last few weeks I've not been as confident as I know I can, so hopefully that goal can help me a lot."

Eagles boss Neil Warnock banned Morrison from revealing a special celebratory '100 not-out' t-shirt under his top to mark the occasion in case he got booked.

So Morrison went over to his family in the Main Stand to celebrate and has dedicated the strike to his girlfriend and children.

He said: "The gaffer didn't want me to do the t-shirt celebration because he didn't want me to get booked. He knows I pick up silly bookings for arguing - so that's fair enough.

"I just went over to my mum and my sister who have always been their for me - the goal is dedicate to them, the girlfriend and my kids.

"I'm a south London boy and this is my club. It's good to do it - especially for the fans, who have always supported me and never ever got on my back since I've been at the club."

Morrison joins an exclusive list of Palace centurians which includes Peter Simpson, Ian Wright, Mark Bright, Dougie Freedman, George Clarke and Johnny Byrne.