Andros Townsend: No reason Palace can’t go deep in EFL Cup this season

BY SAM SMITH

Andros Townsend believes Crystal Palace can put together a run in the EFL Cup – with his brace seeing off West Brom in the third round on Tuesday evening.

The Eagles midfielder netted a stunning shot from 30 yards to open the scoring at the Hawthorns. He then added the final goal in the 3-0 victory with a solo strike after Patrick van Aanholt netted his first of the season.

And the former Tottenham man – with whom he reached the final of the same competition in 2015 – reckons the South Londoners could reach the latter rounds.

“I’ve always enjoyed this competition. In the first few rounds you have to make changes but we were lucky because we don’t play until Monday so we could play a few more starting 11 players, as well as the players who need games,” Townsend told eagles.cpfc.co.uk.

“If you win one game, before you know it you’re in the deeper rounds – then anything can happen. It’s a competition in which I’ve been to the final before so I know how good a competition it is so hopefully we can go on a little run.”

Townsend netted Palace’s first goal on six minutes, receiving possession inside his own half before surging forward and wonderfully curling the ball beyond Boaz Myhill from 30 yards.

He then rounded off the scoring with nine minutes remaining, tricking his way around the Baggies’ defence before finishing across goal with his right foot.

And the 27-year-old – whose last goal came against Manchester United in March – believes his early strike will give him the confidence when shooting in similar situations.

“It’s been a long time coming and hopefully I can put away a few more chances in the coming weeks.

[The first goal] is similar to the one against Liverpool [earlier in the season] where I came inside and hit the crossbar, but thankfully this one dipped a bit more. It will give me a bit more confidence when shooting in the future and hopefully I will put away a few more like that.

“We had three goals but we should have had seven or eight. We’ll take the three and build on that and we’ll go into Monday’s game [against Bournemouth] with the confidence that we will score the chances that we didn’t put away tonight and against Newcastle on Saturday.”