IAN Holloway says there is no point in him getting worried about whether or not Crystal Palace make the play-offs.

The Eagles know victory in the final Championship fixture of the season at home to Peterborough on Saturday will guarantee a place in the end of season play-off lottery.

But a run of nine games without a win means Palace could have made sure of a top six finish a lot sooner instead of going into a tense last day encounter against a Posh side battling for their lives to stay in the division.

When asked this afternoon if he feared Palace might fall short at the final hurdle, Holloway replied: “Every day of your life you put yourself up to go and win and there is a distinct possibility that you might not.

“Normally two things happen, you either draw or you lose.

“When you lose you have to look at why.

“You never pick a team that you think is going to lose, you never ask them to go out there and lose so you have to look at why.

“Then you have to come back, re-do and then try again.

“In amongst all of it some players, what I’ve found out although I haven’t put this squad together, some players are absolutely vital to the unification of the team.

“Jedinak for example is absolutely vital in my opinion, which I didn’t know at first, and we missed him for two games previous with a silly suspension, not by him but by the referee.

“I thought it was a ridiculous decision.

“More importantly we’ve still realistically got a fantastic chance of being one of the teams in the play-offs.

“I believe we will have as good a chance as anyone of the other three if we get there, but I don’t talk about getting there yet because we haven’t earned that right.”

Holloway added: “I’ve said all along the hardest point that you need to get is the one that gets you there.

“If I worried about football I wouldn’t be able to sit here and actually lead anybody, would I?

“So it’s not a worry, it is not even a concern, it is an occupational hazard that you have to learn and get over.

“And if I can convince people over and over again that they are good enough, even when they’ve done it wrong, then that is how I earn my money eventually by being there and talking to people and making them believe in themselves and playing out of their skin.

“It is not a nice feeling when you lose because you are judged on results but Crystal Palace have been almost in the top six all season so they are a good side.

“We are a good team, we have good players and we’ve got to remember that and because we’ve lost a few lately, were we that bad when we won all of those games in a row?

“Were we really that good at that time or was it going for us then?

“I believe it is how you go about it and how you can turn it around.

“It is for everyone else to worry and then for everyone else to judge what you do with the benefit of hindsight.

“That will all happen on the weekend but I believe totally we can do what we need to do.”

Follow @NewsShopperSprt on Twitter for live updates from Crystal Palace’s crucial home game against Peterborough on Saturday.