Smith scoffs at Palace uprising

Smith acknowledged that transfer-listed defender Neil Ruddock and midfielder Jamie Pollock, on loan at Birmingham, are no longer supporters of his management style. He has fallen out with both but brought in new faces after telling them they have no future at Palace.

David Hopkin has returned to the club from Bradford for £1.5 million and Finn Aki Riihilahti, who scored against England at Anfield, joined from Norwegian side Valerenga for £200,000.

Smith also argued it will be important having defenders Fan Zhiyi and Craig Harrison fit and available for the run-in after injuries and suspensions had made them bit-part players in recent weeks.

But he will have to do without Hayden Mullins for the next two games because of suspension and Jamie Smith for three weeks after a cartilage operation.

"I feel we are going into the game against Crewe with a different team and fresh minds," Smith said. "The new players mean we have a stronger team and it is important that Matthew Upson (on loan from Arsenal) has had time to settle in and Zhiyi is properly back. Fan came back from his hamstring injury too early and missed a few games."

Smith has been spending more time on the training pitch with new assistant manager Ray Houghton since Cockerill left 10 days ago. The decision to let him go was a shock to many at Selhurst Park and Cockerill reacted angrily to the decision of someone he regarded as a friend.

Jordan, who has been publicly supportive of his manager, has denied any involvement in the decision and Smith added: "If there has been a reaction from the players to Glenn going I have not noticed it. I think the attitude in training has been better and there is no doubt they know what I want from them."

Those Palace players not on international duty this week attended a positive-thinking session and Smith claims a respectable finish near mid-table is still possible.

He said: "I have no doubts at all that we will stay up. I am not being complacent but I have no worries. It is more about how far we can get up the table. I think we had nine players on international duty and a team with that many people playing at that level should not be struggling."

But those players involved in World Cup and European Under-21 Championship qualifiers trooped home no wiser as to where the next win is going to come from.

Mikael Forssell and Riihilahti were in the Finland side that lost 2-1 to England, Alex Kolinko and Andrejs Rubins played in Latvia's 4-1 defeat in Croatia and Ricardo Fuller was a substitute for Jamaica as they lost 4-0 against Mexico.

Northern Ireland Under-21 star Wayne Carlisle played in a 2-0 loss in Bulgaria and Stephen Evans was dropped from the Welsh Under-21 side for the midweek clash with Ukraine after he and three other play-ers broke a curfew following a 1-0 defeat in Armenia.

Meanwhile, Palace were told by the Football Association today that their Youth Academy Licence has been confirmed. It is a big achievement at a time when many clubs are facing the threat of having their licences withdrawn because of stringent FA requirements.