Black day for Tommy

Francis claims he cannot remember why he let him leave St Andrews, but he had his memory jogged last night as to the striker's predatory instincts.

A Palace side missing 10 players through injury and the suspended Danny Granville had manfully fought back to 1-1 when Peschisolido made his late, grand entrance in the 84th minute. Within two minutes, he had headed in Peter Ndlovu's cross with Palace screaming offside. Another two minutes and it was game over after he prodded home from close range.

Francis said: "He was at Birmingham for about two weeks before I sold him. I can't remember why, it was six years ago and my memory isn't that good." What made it even more galling for Palace was that the decisive second goal probably should not have been given.

Certainly, Alex Kolinko was convinced Peschisolido was yards offside when he headed home and the Latvian keeper was booked for his protestations.

"All my players were convinced it was offside and I've been told by people who have seen the video that it is clearly offside," said Francis. "The reaction of our keeper told me the story. In 12 months, I have heard him speak about two words because he is such a placid guy. He rarely gets flustered so when I saw him running out of his goal to protest I felt something was up."

Palace, already without experienced players like Dougie Freedman and Tony Popovic, suffered another blow at the 11th hour when Shaun Derry pulled out with a hamstring injury leaving Francis no option but to hand rookie defender Will Antwi his debut. Up front Dele Adebola played the first 79 minutes despite carrying a knee ligament injury.

Against a typically robust Neil Warnock side, Palace were on the back foot for most of the first half and Carl Asaba's 35th-minute header gave the home side a deserved lead.

However, the spirit of the south London side clearly indicated how important they regard their recent pedigree in the competition and Andy Johnson was denied a penalty following a rash challenge by Stuart McCall.

"Andy told me the player smashed into him," said Francis, "while Tommy Black posed problems whenever he picked up the ball."

It was Black who instigated Palace's equaliser with eight minutes left, cutting the ball back from the byline to see Sheffield United defender Shaun Murphy bundle the ball over the line.

"My players did themselves proud in the second half and it was no surprise when we got the equaliser," said Francis.

What Palace lacked, however, was experienced replacements on the bench as the game reached its decisive period and the arrival of Peschisolido and Nick Montgomery for the Blades proved decisive.

Black said. "We sort of took our foot of the pedal at 1-1, although we are not happy with a couple of their goals. We are a bit dejected, but know we have to pick ourselves up for the league game at Rotherham on Sunday."