By Tom Hughes

If Stephen Dobbie still has naysayers, I think they should be prepared to take their negativity underground.

Not to rehash last week’s column, but the way he skilfully made space for himself, embarrassed a Blackburn defender and coolly wrong-footed the goalkeeper to slot home again showed his impressive composure and demonstrated his classy finishing.

It reinforced the impression given by his smooth curled strike against Leicester.

Yet aside from my blossoming admiration for Dobbie and his discovery of shooting boots, the pessimism around the club trundles on into another week.

Following another draw, abandoned lead and discarded three points the psychological state of the team can’t be perfect for Tuesday’s massive south London derby at The Den.

And MASSIVE is a word that sums it up, as the Eagles need two points from their final two games, while Millwall are clinging on a hair’s breadth above the relegation zone.

Should we fail to win, then the idea of everything resting on the final day of the season against Peterborough – doggedly fighting relegation themselves – doesn’t bare thinking about either.

I’m so tense that it’s started to feel like Palace are about to play two play-off games a few weeks early.

In order to feel upbeat before Millwall I’ve taken to relying on imagination.

Pretend that during his two game suspension Mile Jedinak has been running up town hall steps, nutmegging street kids and staring thoughtfully into the distance while Eye of the Tiger by Survivor and You’re the Voice by John Farnham have been blasting out of a boombox on a relentless, ruthless loop.

For this fantasy to work better perhaps pretend Jedinak still has the moustache he grew for Movember (aka happier times).

 

The Eye of the Tiger

Once this vision is embedded in your mind and you’re convinced that training at Palace’s Beckenham facilities involves a 1980s against-the-odds sports film vibe then you’ll have infinitely more faith that we’ll make the play-offs this year. Maybe.

Honestly, it feels like we need some sort of monumental action-film montage to shake us out of this restless trough and across the finish line…

To finally secure more stressful, hellish games in the play-offs. Oh great.

Tom Hughes writes for the Five Year Plan

@thughes0197