Striker Dwight Gayle will not be leaving Crystal Palace in January, says boss Neil Warnock.

Rumours of a fall-out between the two circulated after Gayle, the club’s leading goal-scorer in all competitions, was dropped at a time when Palace were finding goals almost impossible to come by.

However, Warnock denied any rift and put it down to the striker having a dip in form.

He said: “You watch players in training and you can tell if they are up for it, and it was awkward with Dwight because he’s been off it a bit recently.

“But we cannot afford to let him go in January because we need the players, we’re so short.”

He added: “But Dwight and Fraizer [Campbell] trained well today [Tuesday], which is good to see.”