Palace can learn from my lesson, says Salako

As Crystal Palace go into a London derby trying to avert an eight-game winless streak on their return to the Premiership, some fans might be feeling a sense of deja vu.

The Eagles have been here before. After winning promotion in 1994, Alan Smith's side had an equally barren start only for their first three points to come from an unlikely 2-1 win against Arsenal at Highbury.

The shock result sparked a mini-revival - Palace finished fourth from bottom - and their two-goal hero that day, John Salako, says the lesson for the current squad is to stay positive.

The 35-year-old, who now plays for Brentford, said: "I know how the Palace players feel - everywhere you go, everybody starts talking about where that first win is going to come from.

"The longer it goes on, the more it plays on your mind and the more the pressure builds.

"But they have to forget that, keep believing in what they are doing and try to grind out a result. Against Arsenal, nobody expected us to win but we were really on our day and they were struggling.

"It was a fantastic result and scoring the two goals was one of the highlights of my career.

"With young players like Gareth Southgate, Chris Armstrong and Chris Coleman, we had a great spirit which shone through."

Salako was later reunited with Coleman as Fulham players and he has since been impressed by the Welshman's transition to management.

Speaking ahead of tonight's meeting of his former clubs, the winger added: "Chris has built a side of great quality with plenty of competition for places. They should be looking at challenging for Europe this season."

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