Francis primes Palace for play-off surge

Crystal Palace 2 Norwich City

Even on his drive home in his leather-clad, brand-new Aston Martin, the seat for Simon Jordan, the Crystal Palace chairman, can scarcely have been as comfortable as the one he enjoyed in the directors' box during this easy victory.

Not that the Eagles' manager, Trevor Francis, was inclined to trumpet this win against a Norwich side that are supposed promotion contenders as the start of something special. In fact, it was almost the opposite. Francis praised his side for their opportunism in front of goal and solid defensive work, but he emphasised the need for his injury-prone squad – now deprived of centre-half Tony Popovic – to get fit in time for the busy Christmas period.

Tomorrow marks the start of a seven-game programme, bookended by cup ties against Sheffield United and Blackpool, in the Worthington and FA Cup respectively, but the bulk is taken up by five league games. Having beaten the Canaries thanks to well taken goals by Dele Adebola and the man of the match, Tommy Black, in the opening 30 minutes, Palace have moved to within six points of the play-off zone. Francis knows now that those five games could make or break their promotion hopes.

He made great play on the fact that the half-way point of the season has been reached, but pointed out that the second-half of the campaign has got to be better than the first. Francis knows what it takes to reach the play-offs thanks to his regular participation in those games with Birmingham City and he said: "I've been in the play-offs a few times and while there's no magic figure I know the sort of points total that's been needed before."

Despite their sluggish start to the campaign, things are looking up for the south London side. Francis, ever able to wheel out a good sound-bite or statistic when he needs one, reminded everyone that Palace have conceded only one goal in their last nine home games. Three of those matches were cup ties, and two against lower league opposition, but he made his point that they are on something of a roll.

By contrast, a roll-over is exactly what Norwich City are right now, at least when they venture outside of Norfolk. This was their fifth consecutive away defeat, but it speaks volumes for the mediocrity around them that they are still fourth in the table and seen as genuine play-off contenders.

"Genuine" was a word that their manager, Nigel Worthington, kept using in relation to his team's workrate, which he could not fault. However, they were badly affected by Adebola's early strike, and their morale disappeared completely when Black outjumped his marker to head home.

They managed only one shot on target all match, repeating their output at Wolves last week. Unlike Jordan's journey, the ride back home to Norwich cannot have been comfortable in the slightest.

Goals: Adebola (6) 1-0; Black (27) 2-0.

Crystal Palace (3-5-2): Kolinko; Popovic (Derry, 15), Symons, Powell; Granville, Black (Williams, 89), Riihilahti, Mullins, Butterfield; Adebola (Gray, 76), Johnson. Substitutes not used: Michopoulos (gk), Borrowdale.

Norwich City (4-4-2): Green; Kenton, Mackay, Fleming, Drury; Easton (Henderson, 72), Mulryne, Holt, Rivers; Roberts (Abbey, 63), McVeigh (Nielsen, 63). Substitutes not used: Barrett (gk), Russell.

Referee: P Armstrong (Thatcham)

Bookings: Crystal Palace: Black, Powell; Norwich City: Kenton, Mackay, Fleming.

Man of the match: Black.

Attendance: 16,791.