Charlton ace Johnnie Jackson to rally the troops for Crystal Palace clash

Crystal Palace’s Dwight Gayle put himself in contention to face Watford on Sunday after scoring a hat-trick against Charlton Athletic in the Capital One Cup.

Crystal Palace assistant manager Keith Millen has praised the Eagles’ performance in the 4-1 victory over local rivals Charlton Athletic in the League Cup third round.

Charlton were given a let-off when Campbell headed a Zaha centre wide with the goal at his mercy five minutes after the restart, but it was a short reprieve as the duo combined for the Palace opener less than a minute later.

“It is nice to have your forwards scoring”, he said. Dwight and Fraizer looked sharp all night.

Speaking about the game a little bit more specifically, the gaffer went on to say that whilst changes can be expected for the match by the fans, he intends on sending out a strong side nontheless because this is a competition he wants a run in this year.

“We need to continue with the attitude and how we played in the first half [against Blackburn]”, he told the club’s official site.

He explained: “We said from day one we really wanted to try and go as far as we could”.

But on 51 minutes, the striker gave Palace the breakthrough when he turned his marker and fired low into the corner.

Gayle stepped up and made no mistake from the spot to double the home side’s advantage just before the hour.

The Addicks threatened a comeback when Sarr headed in Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s corner, but their hopes were extinguished when Diarra felled Gayle. The defender had already been booked for the first penalty, but referee Neil Swarbrick this time showed him a straight red card for a professional foul before Gayle hit the net again.

“After that, at 3-1, ten players, the game is over”.

But for Alou Diarra it was a nightmare evening, the former France worldwide giving away two penalties before being sent off.

Looking ahead to tonight’s derby, Ambrose was asked if he was expecting a good game and replied: “I think so”.