The left foot of Dave Kitson brought three very welcome points back from Doncaster on Tuesday night and the Royals frontman was naturally delighted with his 82nd minute finish.

"It was a good bit of play from Chris on the left - he got forward well and that's not an easy thing to do on that sort of pitch in the 82nd minute of a hard fought match.

"I was screaming and screaming at him to cut it back and he had the calmness to pick me out.

"They are quite difficult opportunities - and you have to be prepared to make yourself look silly and sky them out of the stadium.

"If you don't catch it right, it can go very wrong and you could miss a 100 of those in training - you just hope when it comes to the game you can pull it off.
 
"Technically you have to put everything into it otherwise you don't get the desired effect and I don't think I could have hit it any better - right in the sweet spot.

"It was a carbon copy of the one I scored against Newcastle, it was just up and over the goalkeepr and in the far corner.

"So I've showed the first one wasn't a fluke now!"

The goal signalled the end of a barren spell which had seen Kitson fail to score since his move to Stoke in the summer.

"I don't think you ever lose the knack and it's amazing what a goal does.

"When you get the chance to play, you want to make an impression and I was annoyed that, although I hit the crossbar, I didn't score in my first game back here.

"But I thought I played ok against Ipswich and here as well, and thankfully I got my reward.

"You just felt that if something dropped in the right place it was going to be that kind of 1-0 game, and it was just a case of relying on the person it dropped to to put it away.

"We threw everything at Doncaster, and we played some nice stuff, some good football when we had to.

"They say it doesn't matter how you win but I thought we played very well - there was some good sharp passing, we cut Doncaster apart a couple of times.

"We went long when we had to, dug in when we had to, and it was a professional performance.

"We needed just to show ourselves we could do it and now we have to carry that into the next game.

"A lot has been made of the games in hand but that's not points in the bag. After last night, it is points in the bag, and we move onto Palace in good spirits."

After scoring his first ever goal against Doncaster Rovers, Kitson revealed he'd be happy playing as the lone frontman again if Steve Coppell chooses to repeat his change of shape at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

"Doncaster was another club I'd not scored against. I think I've done about 65 different clubs or so now - it's just my weird little thing that I like to keep an eye on - a mini personal goal trying to score against as many as possible.

"And I loved playing up front as the sole striker. You see a lot of the ball because you're the only person players can aim for.

"You do get more tired though and trying to do it two games in a row might be hard work, but I'm happy with whatever the manager wants and whatever is best for the team.

"I'll go and get some ice on some wounds, to help keep the bumps and bruises down, and I'll be raring to go again at the weekend."