It’s been a season of ifs, buts and maybes for Crystal Palace so far and it is frustrating to see a side that is so near yet so far in terms of completion.

Another agonising result against Spurs on Saturday is the latest game in a sequence of five, either side of the Liverpool victory, that we arguably could have come away with more.

It’s intriguing to note that our away displays have been significantly better than our home displays this campaign, particularly considering our home form was so strong in the second half of last season.

This could be pinpointed to Neil Warnock’s decision to field a more attacking line up at home than he does away which leads to conceding goals at crucial times.

Our away line-up typically includes our fantastic midfield trio of Mile Jedinak, James McArthur and Joe Ledley who all offer the perfect blend of midfield tenacity, warrior-like strength and precise passing.

We are lined up with the intention of soaking up pressure and being explosive on the break thanks to our scintillating wingers and Chamakh leading the line.

Yet in home fixtures one of the midfielders are sacrificed at the expense of Chamakh dropping deeper as a more mobile centre forward is chosen to lead the line.

It’s fair to say that at home, Warnock feels inclined to force the issue instead of capitalising on the opposition's desire to attack.

It could be argued that this is the reason for our faltering home performances.

The answer could be to play our away formation at home, to out the tendency to be hit with a sucker punch.

The midfield three would protect the back four as well as they have done in recent away matches and as long as we keep two of Jason Puncheon, Yannick Bolasie and Wilfred Zaha on the field, we are always going to ask questions of the opposing defence.

Fortunately Palace are still one point better off than at this point last season but it certainly could have been a lot more.

Home defeats by Sunderland and Aston Villa were both games in which we had dominated but failed to capitalise on the many times we penetrated the opposing back line.

Add those defeats to two draws in which we should have won against West Brom and Spurs and we are looking at a gut-wrenching 10 points dropped, when on another day we could have gone home with the spoils.

Not to mention the glorious chances missed away at Manchester United to take the lead when the score was level.

A centre forward is arguably the missing piece of the Palace puzzle and had we had a go-to man such as Danny Ings, Charlie Austin or Christian Benteke, the Palace faithful would be sleeping a lot easier at night.

The fact of the matter is, we don’t. One can only hope that Warnock and the owners have already chalked up a shortlist ready for the January transfer window.

CPFC 2010 are a famously shrewd bunch but they will be needing to dig deep to find the club a new
No 9.

The club shouldn’t be scared of ambition and should look to the fact that any hefty transfer fee paid for a centre forward would seem a drop in the ocean if the club avoid relegation for a second successive season.

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