After two months unbeaten our run came to an end last Saturday with a defeat at the hands of Cardiff City, which we weren't really pleased about. But, from our point of view, we bounced back extremely well on Tuesday night with a good three-nil win over Gillingham and it gets us back on the road again. 

It was good to get the Cardiff game out of our system and three points keep us top of the table.  Despite going in 0-0 at half-time, we came out after the break, played very well and scored three excellent goals.  We're now at that stage of the season where, though for the majority we have performed well, we must still go out and earn the right to play and keep on getting results.

Tomorrow is going to be an exciting game at Crystal Palace, they have some very good players and with both sides looking for maximum points, with Palace themselves homing in on a play-off spot, we can expect a battle. 

Meanwhile, my old club Stoke City have got a difficult match against West Brom. We'll be hoping they can do us a big favour at the Britannia Stadium so we have some daylight between us and the Baggies. 

Though you always look out for other results around you in the table, we also know we mustn't rely on other teams to do our job.  If we go out and approach the game in the right way, then we know we'll be ok in the end.

As manager of the club, it's my job to try and maintain the momentum of the side and keep the objectives clear in the mind of the players so they understand their roles within the team.  From there, it's about encouraging and supporting them through the last few weeks of the season, in which our fate will ultimately be decided.

Confidence building, too, plays a major part in a manager's job. Last week we saw Michael Owen miss a penalty against Southampton and come under a little bit of criticism.  It would have been easy for Gerard Houllier to take him out for the next game, or hand the taking of penalties over to someone else. Instead, he stood by Owen, showed faith in him and it paid dividends on Wednesday against Portsmouth when he went out and scored two goals.

Michael is a first-class player, and good players don't become bad players overnight.  You should show faith, give them support, some work on the training pitch and hopefully they will recapture their form quickly, as Michael did at Anfield.

Penalties are a very stressful part of the game, as a player I stayed away from them as much as possible, and you must back the individual who is brave enough to stand up and take one.  They all have their own styles, some people pick a spot and place it, others are more direct, but you have to leave them to get on with it. I like the way Alan Shearer takes them, hitting through the back of the ball with power making it difficult for the 'keeper. Though he doesn't score every time, he finds success more often than not - because he always feels as though he's going to score.
   
During a match, I'll leave it for the players to decide who takes the spot-kicks, it's down to the occasion, who fancies it, and you can only really tell when the time comes.  I thinks it's better not to have a situation when someone doesn't really want to take one, but because he is named before the game, he thinks he must take it.

We've had one penalty miss this season, but the same player had the courage to step up for our next one, he scored that and went on from there.  Encouragement, A quick 'better luck next time', and we just move on. More often than not, that player has scored plenty of goals in the past that have won points and games, so no one ever points the finger after a penalty is missed. 

We'd certainly take a penalty tomorrow if it meant three points against Palace.

Nigel Worthington