PALACE boss Ian Holloway lavished praise on goalkeeper Julian Speroni after his late penalty save helped the Eagles take all three points from Derby County last Friday.
The shot-stopper deflected the ball onto the crossbar from Rams striker Connor Sammon's 87th minute spot-kick following Yannick Bolasie's first half winner.
"He's been player of the year three times in a row so he's definitely a fans' favourite, and he was absolutely outstanding," said the boss.
"I think he's a wonderful person. It's not just what he's like with his gloves on, he's a wonderful human being.
"I think he epitomises the club – we're fresh, we're hungry, we want to do it. It's nice to get that monkey off your back and it took a marvellous save from our goalie – I thought he was inspired.
"That's why he's got his own bar at our ground. To do well you need a really good goalie and he's proved that."
"We all looked a bit nervous at the end, myself included, because we want it so bad.
"I'm going to enjoy this because we're in with a shout of automatic promotion and that's fantastic for everybody at the club."
Derby boss Nigel Clough, on the other hand, thought the result was harsh on his players.