Taylor full of praise for Blues fans

Feb 19 2007 By Brian Halford, Birmingham Mail

MARTIN Taylor was quick to salute Blues' travelling fans for their input at Selhurst Park.

At the end of a troubled week, plenty of Blues' supporters travelled to south London and, before the game, chairman David Gold went over to thank them for their backing.

That set the tone for a positive afternoon all round, reckoned Taylor.

"The supporters were great," he said. "I saw the chairman in among them before the game and I think that pepped them up. They made plenty of noise and lifted us when we came under a bit of pressure in the second half."

Blues' players gave the fans reasons to be cheerful with a display that was solid all over the pitch.

"It was a good professional performance," Taylor said. "The back four did well but so did the four in front of us, who all worked very hard, while the two lads up front held the ball up very well.

"It was a great result to keep up the pressure on the other two in the top three. It is always disappointing, when you have played in the cup like they did, to find out that other teams have picked up points.

"But that is what we had to do - win the game, pure and simple. At this stage of the season that's all that counts, getting the three points.

"Our keeper has only had one save to make. They hit the post and we were disappointed that shot got through, although it was a bit of a scuffed effort. But mostly we kept them at safe distances and even restricted the amount of set-pieces they had.

"It was a great result because we have got a huge game on Tuesday."