EAGLES columnist SAM ROSS has revenge in mind ahead of this weekend’s meeting with play-off hopefuls Cardiff, the side who beat Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup semi-final.

SATURDAY’S meeting with Cardiff will be the last game of the season and it is slightly ironic the Eagles now have the chance to ruin the Bluebirds’ campaign after they pretty much did the same to ours.

Since the Carling Cup semi-final defeat, where Cardiff were unable to score themselves in open play in more than 210 minutes, the Eagles continued to be hard to beat up until March.

With a lot of available points in March, this was the time to push for a play-off place but a disappointing loss to Nottingham Forest and too many home draws put an end to that dream.

And with so many games in this period, Dougie Freedman admitted the Carling Cup had finally caught up with his Palace players.

Under Dave Jones Cardiff were the ultimate bottle jobs, something Malky Mackay is desperately trying to eradicate since taking charge.

But failure to even make the play-offs would be typical of Cardiff and pleasing for our supporters after the heartache at the end of January.

From those looking in, it would be easy to call it fan jealously and while Cardiff have been around the play-offs all year, I am not convinced they are good enough for the Premier League.

Peter Whittingham is no doubt a class midfielder and the defensive pairing of former Eagle Mark Hudson and Ben Turner is a formidable one.

But Kenny Miller hasn't proved to be the prolific goal scorer a lot of people thought he would be and they don't pose the same threat heading into the play-offs Swansea did last year. A draw away at champions Reading, followed by a possible win this Saturday, would be a good way to the end the season but also a very frustrating one.

Frustrating in the sense we can draw to the league winners and beat play-off contenders but still finish below mid-table.

What has also been noticeable in the last week or so is Millwall fans all of a sudden popping up and relishing the prospect of finishing above Palace.

They have done very well to avoid relegation with ease and no-one would have thought they would occupy a place above the Eagles come Saturday, but in their current form it looks as though it could embarrassingly be the case.

A draw looks the safest bet for Saturday but a goalless draw would be the worst result, even if it did mean finishing above Millwall.

A win would be a great way to end the season regardless of whether Cardiff were still guaranteed a play-off place if Middlesbrough couldn't beat Watford.

Most of all, though, Saturday is a time to praise the work of the Palace players and management this season and celebrate what has not necessarily been a successful year but a very productive one.

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