CRYSTAL Palace manager Neil Warnock was left apologising to the fans after Scunthorpe United humiliated his side at the weekend, admitting his side couldn’t “score in a brothel”.

The Eagles chief could only watch on as the away side run riot in a devastating 10 minute period, adding three second half goals to their early strike in the first period to leave Selhurst Park with a comfortable victory and all three points.

Warnock said: “It is probably the most embarrassed I have ever felt in my career in that second half.

“I can’t really think of any more bigger embarrassments than that second half.

“That is why I stood on the touchline for the rest of the game after the second goal to have a look at certain characters and my team when things were not going well.

“I don’t think Scunthorpe scored a good goal. I am not knocking Scunthorpe, I just thought we put it on a plate for them.

“They must have thought they had won the pools.”

He added: “If you are involved in a game like that in the second half, you can only be embarrassed and I hope the lads went home as embarrassed as I am.

“All you can do with a result like that is apologise to the fans.

“I thought they were fantastic really, I would have crucified the manager if I had been one of them.”

To add insult to injury, Freddy Sears missed a late penalty after former Eagle Sam Togwell was adjudged to have somewhat dubiously handled in the area.

However, Warnock refused to lay any blame with his misfiring forwards.

He explained: “We would not have scored in a brothel, let us be fair on that, but that is not where our problems came from.

“It is hard for forwards when your defenders are defending like that.

“As a manger, you do not really look to point the finger at the forwards even though we had the chances but couldn’t score.

“It was the other end of the pitch that has really made it an embarrassment.

“I don’t think we have had a clean sheet this year and you have got to start from the back.”

“It is not rocket science, we have got to defend better at the moment.”

Warnock added: “Bill Shankly said football is a simple game, it is the players who make it difficult.

“At the moment we are doing everything difficult and we are missing out on the simple things.

“We have got to get back to the basics and that means going back to the drawing board.”

Warnock will now be looking to make amends to the Palace faithful starting with a tricky away game at QPR and the manager has hinted he will be making changes.

He said: “The challenge is now QPR and Derby County.

“I have got to do things with the players that I have got at my disposal and try and get results, nothing changes.

“I don’t think we have a lot to change, but there will be changes.”