[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Not that I'm the type to get carried away with a bit of success, but having put Sheffield United to the sword in last week's glorious 1-0 drubbing, it's nice to know that our title challenge is alive and well. However, between us and the ultimate glory (besides sixteen other teams, seventy-odd points and the absence of nine or ten decent players) stand Crystal Palace, our opponents at noon on Sunday.

Unusually for a Hodgson side, Palace haven't been keeping clean sheets - they have only one in the league all season - and have likewise only recorded one draw so far, with wins and defeats coming in almost equal measure. Though our ex-manager might well have a few tricks up his sleeve (and thankfully that crocked ingrate Nathan Ferguson won't be one of them, as he's still out with the knee injury that made him the most anti-climactic four-month wonder in Albion history), this uncharacteristic leakiness might well play in Albion's favour if we can go at the Eagles with a bit of confidence from the off. Of course, they carry their own goal threat through the likes of Jordan Ayew and Wilf Zaha, along with Benteke still plying his trade as a 30-year-old super-sub, but since putting four past Leeds this time last month, they've been kept quiet in back to back matches by Burnley and Newcastle. Make that goal drought last for a third game, and we could well be in business.

Famous fans: Over the years they seem to have carved out a niche as the go-to London club for those celebs who find West Ham a bit too genteel and upmarket. There's never been as much of a media love-in down at Selhurst as in East London, and with little to shout about since that legendary 1990 FA Cup run, you have to respect the diehard loyalty in the likes of Jo Brand, Timothy Spall, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Harry Enfield, Mark Steel, Peter Davison, Paul Weller, Eddie Izzard, ex-England cricketer Mark Butcher, ex-Inbetweeners Simon Bird and James Buckley, Neil Morrissey and Jim Bob from the 1990s Philip-Schofield-decking noise crew Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine. Just not so much their ex-chairman who seems to spend his time nursing a one-man grudge against Albion for reasons that no one else has ever managed to fathom.