CRYSTAL Palace recorded three straight Championship wins on Saturday after beating Barnsley 3-0, much to the delight of manager Neil Warnock.

The Eagles have hit form to move away from the relegation zone and Warnock acknowledged recent loan signing Craig Beattie has played a pivotal role in their four-game unbeaten streak.

He said: “I think signing Craig Beattie was the turning point for us. I asked the chairman if I could get Beattie in because we lost four strikers and he agreed.

“We went to Ipswich with Beattie only being there 24 hours, but still we were so pleased to see him, we were like a revelation at Ipswich.

“I think we’ve got to cross our fingers every game because we haven’t got a big squad.

“We lost Paddy McCarthy last week and Matt Lawrence has done brilliantly to play today because he had an injection and he didn’t train for nine days. We can’t look too far ahead yet because we aren’t far from the bottom three.

“If we lost two or three players now, we would be struggling so we’ve just got to enjoy the victories and keep the medical room free.

“Beattie is here for a month, so he has got a few games left yet but I would like him until Christmas.

“I spoke to Tony Mowbray and he seems quite happy about Beattie getting games.”

Crystal Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni continued his excellent form with another clean sheet and the manager was keen to praise the Argentine stopper afterwards.

Warnock said: “He’s been absolutely superb all along and the only thing you have to worry about with Julian is if he gets injured because then we might have to stick Shaun Derry or Ben Watson in goal.”

“The likes of Sean Scannell and Victor Moses are only kids still at 17,” he added.

“I’ve given three or four lads two or three year contracts who done well for us in pre-season who you’ve not heard about yet, but to be honest I enjoy watching them.”

Crystal Palace head to St Andrews on Tuesday evening having not conceded a goal since their visit to Portman Road, but Warnock feels his side were hard done by in that game.

He said: “It was the first time in my managerial career I’ve been disappointed to come away with a draw at Ipswich and the players were the same.

“It was nice to see us play and be hungry and we’ve kept that up on the training ground.

“Although the two-week break was good because it gave a few lads the chance to get fit, we were a bit disappointed we weren’t playing because we were ready to go again.

“But fortunately they’ve came out today like they finished the last game and that’s good.”

Barnsley found themselves on the verge of an FA Cup final last year after victories over Chelsea and Liverpool, but the Tykes are experiencing a torrid time of late which has seen them occupy the lowly position that the eagles filled not long ago.

Warnock added: “It’s hard work for Simon Davey, but that’s why we were glad to get out of the bottom three early because you can get dragged into it down there.

“We were third from bottom and didn’t look like scoring a goal only four weeks ago, but my chairman was magnificent and you need that kind of support.”