Palace assistant manager Keith Millen admits fringe strikers Dwight Gayle and Fraizer Campbell have given Alan Pardew a welcome selection dilemma after sharing the goals in tonight’s 4-1 demolition of Charlton.

Campbell put the Eagles in front early in the second half before Gayle went on to complete a hat-trick with two second half penalties and a late header to send the Eagles through to the next round, where they face an away trip to Manchester City.

Millen said: “It is nice to have your centre forwards scoring goals and for them both to score and look dangerous tonight the pair of them.

“We need that, we haven’t scored for a couple of games so we wanted to score tonight to give everyone a little bit more of a confidence boost.

“It is a nice problem to have going into the weekend.”

He added: “From a centre forward’s point of view scoring goals and a hat-trick, and he looked sharp all night – and obviously with Fraizer as well scoring - it is perfect for our front two so it gives them a lot of confidence going into the next game.

“When you look at our squad and the team we put out today it is a strong team.

“That is the beauty of our squad now that we can change three or four players and not weaken it.”

The Eagles dominated the first period but this didn’t translate into any efforts at goal, with Addicks keeper Nick Pope essentially a spectator for the opening 45 minutes.

Pardew’s side stepped up a gear after the break and broke the deadlock within six minutes of the restart.

Having missed a simple header just moments earlier, Campbell twisted and turned inside the box before slotting home from Wilfried Zaha’s cross.

Palace did have the ball in the back of the net again although Campbell’s effort was ruled out for offside, but he then quickly won a penalty after being felled by Alou Diarra.

Gayle stepped up and made no mistake from the spot to double the home side’s advantage just before the hour.

Charlton were right back in it when Naby Saha headed past Wayne Hennessey after rising high to meet a corner.

But their hopes of a comeback were well and truly dashed as Palace, and Gayle, scored their second penalty of the evening after the striker had been tripped in the box by Diarra.

The Charlton defender, who had already been booked for conceding the earlier spot-kick, was handed a straight red card to leave the Championship visitors a man short for the final 16 minutes.

And Gayle took full advantage of that numerical disadvantage four minutes from the end by completing his hat-trick with a header from Lee’s corner.

Zaha might not have scored but it was an impressive display none the less after the winger was criticised by Pardew following Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Spurs.

Millen said: “It was a performance that we wanted from the whole team, it wasn’t just about Wilf.

“We had a lot of players tonight that needed some game time and I felt as the game went on they got sharper.

“It was nice to see Adrian Mariappa, Dwight Gayle and Fraizer Campbell getting some game time and getting their match sharpness.

“We were pleased with Wilf, he was a threat all night and caused them problems, created chances for us and worked hard out of possession so he has responded in the right manner.”

Millen added: “He has been great and I’ve known Wilf for over three years.

“Whenever he has had a disappointment or a tough time he is strong enough to come back and he deals with it.

“He came into training on Monday with a smile on his face and you could see it today in the game he enjoys playing football.

“As long as he keeps enjoying himself then it is a pleasure to watch him.”

Palace might well face a difficult task in the next round at Manchester City, but Millen sees no reason why the Eagles can’t go on to win the competition.

He explained:  “We said from day one we really wanted to try and go as far as we could.

“The big boys quite often rest some of their bigger players until the later stages.

“The draw has been kind to us so far, we’ve had two home games and we are in the last 16.

“We are taking it seriously and it has been a while since Crystal Palace have had a good cup run so we want to go as far as we can.”

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