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Steve Parish: January transfer window is about finding the right character for Crystal Palace'

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PALACE co-chairman Steve Parish says he and manager Ian Holloway will be doing everything they can to bring in at least a couple of new players in the January transfer window coming up.

With the club fighting hard for promotion to the Premier League, Parish feels that some new faces could give the team an extra boost in achieving that and present further options in certain positions.

"We've had a few conversations and we know it's tough with the Christmas period coming up," he told Advertiser Sport.

"We've been fortunate with injuries so far but I think we feel we could do with a couple of players to cover in certain positions and some options maybe.

"It's fairly obvious the positions we'll be looking for, probably more attack-minded players, and we've got a few targets and names written down - we just need some options."

However, Parish says the club won't be signing anyone for the sake of it and feels any player arriving at Selhurst Park needs to have the right character and attitude to be part of the team rather than thinking about themselves.

"They've got to compliment the squad as people more than anything else," he said.

"We've got a great spirit and everyone gets on really well in a good atmosphere, so it's about the right character that can fit into the team and if they're prepared to do a job.

"We're going to be sensible about it, we're not going to start spraying money around.

"We always said that to Dougie (Freedman) at the start of the season that we'd always give it a go and that's what we've stuck to – so far it seems to be working out OK.

"We're desperate to get the transformational effects that it would have on this club if it were to get promoted with all the money involved and all the things we want to do for the local area and the ground.

"What we've seen is that it's probably a little bit easier than it has been in the past to encourage players to come to Palace.

"Ian has got a lot of contacts at clubs because he's been in the game a long time and where we are in the league helps.

"Players will get absorbed into the set-up too. Training is fun and tactically I think Ian is very positive as we've seen."

Since Freedman's departure to Bolton Wanderers, a number of staff at Selhurst Park have followed the Scot to the Reebok Stadium, and the latest names who look to be leaving Palace seem to be U21s development coach Jamie Fullarton and chief scout Dave Sclanders.

And even though Parish think's it's an unfortunate situation, he accepts these things do happen in football and that certain people have loyalties to consider.

"It's not ideal but it is what it is – it's football," he said.

"It's kind of an accepted thing. I think, for us, we've got to separate our first team squad, where you've got to accept that as a unit of people.

"Jamie Fullarton's family are up that way and so were Curtis Fleming's before he left.

"The way that football works, if they see that Dougie has brought them in to work under him, they then see their loyalties to him.

"When you've got staff at the training ground on two or three months' notice, that's the reality of it and they can go, so we've not been stupid about it, they've all been professional.

"We've kept them on while we've got our house in order. All of them have been professional while they've been with us, but we've kept a couple that Bolton have also come in for that we thought were really important to what we were doing."

Steve Parish: January transfer window is about finding the right character for Crystal Palace'


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