Palace's Welsh ace confident Eagles can topple Bluebirds at top of table (From Croydon Guardian)

Crystal Palace 2-2 Leeds United

9:31am Monday 11th March 2013 in Football By Brad Pinard

CRYSTAL Palace youngster Jonathan Williams believes the Eagles can still catch leaders Cardiff City and win the Championship title.

Williams put in a man-of-the-match performance as Palace earned a hard-fought point at home to Leeds United on Saturday, as they moved to within six points of leaders Cardiff.

The Wales U21 international sees the 2-2 draw as a point gained rather than two dropped and the squad have their eyes set on promotion.

“I think that is a point won,” Williams said.

“Looking back on the results, the team spirit lifted when we saw other results.

“Hopefully we can keep pushing to that second place and maybe even first.

“Cardiff are having a bit of wobble so we can even catch them.

“A few weeks ago we wouldn’t have said that but now we are confident we can.”

Williams has stepped into a key role in the Palace team in recent weeks and is hoping to keep his fine individual form going for the remainder of the season.

Glenn Murray notched twice for Palace either side of half-time to snatch a draw from under the noses of Neil Warnock’s Leeds, but it was Williams who was the best player on the pitch.

After setting up Murray’s first goal, Williams battled hard in the midfield against a very physical Yorkshire side.

“It has been a while since I assisted Glen,” he said.

“I was delighted that we got the goal to go 1-0 up, which is vital in a game like that.

“Hopefully a goal for myself will be coming along soon.

“They made it tough for us today, a very physical team well set up but I think we played pretty well.

“Either team could have got the three points in the end but maybe we deserved it with all the shots and domination we had.”

Palace travel to bitter rivals Brighton next Sunday as they look to close the gap on the top two further.

Williams has expressed delight at playing regular football and hopes the Eagles can repeat their success at the AMEX Stadium from last season when Palace won 3-1.

“I am just happy to be playing to be honest,” he said.

“If I come off the pitch and I’m fit then I’m happy.

“Brighton will be very exciting to be involved in.

“It’s a big game for the fans and the players.

“We had a great result at their place last season and hopefully we can do that again.”

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