Watching two of his experienced men, Alan Thompson and Neil Lennon, administered red cards will have stripped Strachan of any na?t?"Next time I would hope to play with a full deck of cards," said Strachan, cryptically. Glenn Hoddle signed the Aston Villa goalkeeper Stefan Postma on loan this week and has also approached Birmingham about Darren Anderton. This fade-out suggested his recruiting might not be over."The injuries we're getting are a worry but at least the [transfer] window is still open if we need to go out and buy," said Hoddle.. Gerrard was the miscreant and, as he was already on a yellow, he might well have taken a forced route to the dressing-room. They are all for the team."If Speed is a robot, then Allardyce will have 10 more, please Year of make not important.. It took half an hour to manoeuvre Johnson into an optimistic position and even then he stabbed his shot into the side netting, albeit from a difficult angle, but Plymouth kept possession more confidently than Palace and Nuno Mendes was unlucky with a searching header that slipped past the post.When Emmerson Boyce threaded a ball through the Plymouth penalty area, Johnson was quick to see it but the goalkeeper Romain Larrieu was even quicker and thrashed it away for nothing more damaging than a corner. The trouble is that unlike the Premiership, this is a battleground in which the difference between top and bottom is too close to risk conceding anything to anyone at any time. Plymouth were disappointed that international clearance had still not be obtained for the former Milan player Taribo West while Palace were relieved that Andrew Johnson was passed fit after a hamstring injury.Johnson was left to his own devices as Hasney Aljofree and Mathias Doumbe created a solid barrier in his path and Plymouth began looking marginally less ordinary than Palace.

After harvesting only one point from the first three games, Palace had been talking about the problems of adjusting to life in a lower division. Crystal Palace's first win of the season came slowly and without total conviction at Selhurst Park yesterday. For a team widely considered to be worthy of a return to the Premiership, they made painfully hard work of overcoming a Plymouth side who played defiantly but at best can expect only a mid-table position. In this season's Championship, which is likely to end in a mass sprint finish for promotion, the danger of being left stranded in the starting blocks is not to be underestimated. "We controlled most of the second half." Davies, however, is resigned to losing Cresswell. "You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know why I left him out," he said..

Shipperley - whom Cresswell seems likely to replace - hooked the ball over his shoulder and in off the far post.Despite their defensive outlook, Preston still posed an intermittent threat in the second half. That much was proved by the promising David Jones, who set up Danny Dichio for what should have been a simple finish.Jones' fine through ball was lofted over Morgan's head but Dichio side-footed gently into Kenny's arms - and was promptly substituted.Despite three attacking substitutions, Sheffield did not look dangerous until Phil Jagielka headed across goal, leaving Webber with the simple task of poking the ball home from a yard."We didn't get what we deserved," said Billy Davies, the Preston manager. We're getting better and some of our players are still not at their best yet."The South Yorkshire club had dominated the opening period until McKenna struck with a delightful right-footer from almost 30 yards that sailed into Paddy Kenny's top-left-hand corner.Sheffield's equaliser arrived when Leigh Bromby's long throw was flicked on by Chris Morgan. "We said if we kept going until the end that we'd get a chance to win the game and we did."We looked strong.