Darcy Blake will be forgetting past allegiances when he faces former employers Cardiff City at Selhurst Park this weekend.

The 23-year-old Welsh international defender spent 13 years at the Dragons – the club he supported as a boy – before he joined the Eagles “in a rush” move last month.

Blake made his Palace debut in the 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough and also featured in the 4-1 Capital One Cup defeat at Preston.

However, Blake and his fellow new arrivals appear to be helping turn the tide following back-to-back wins over Sheffield Wednesday and London rivals Charlton Athletic.
The Eagles took on Nottingham Forest last night looking to make it three wins on the bounce.

Blake, who featured in the Carling Cup semi-final second leg against Palace last season, said: “It will be odd playing against my old side, but I just want the three points.

“I had not started a game for Cardiff this season and was getting frustrated sitting on the bench. Last year I was only playing here and there and I really wanted to get to a club where I would be playing more.

“Then it all happened in a rush, I got a phone call one morning saying ‘Pack your bags, you’re going to Crystal Palace’ and I was really pleased because I had been waiting for that call.

“As a footballer you just want to play games and since leaving Cardiff I’ve played four games for Palace as well as two internationals.”

Blake is loving being in a Palace shirt, especially as he and the other new arrivals, including fellow defender and Irish international Damien
Delaney, are having a positive effect on the team’s defensive record.

He said: “The clean sheet against Charlton was our first and it is the kind that defenders love. They really threw everything at us in the last 10 minutes and as defenders you just have to throw yourself in front of the ball, get your head to every cross and clear every attack.

“When the final whistle went it was a great feeling. We just want to keep that confidence going and get a run of results started. It is still early days in the Championship and a run of results would send us up the table.”