Rovers' opening day draw at Port Vale was a satisfactory result for the new boys in the Division. Having gone behind with just over 20 minutes left, it says a lot for the belief instilled in the team that they bounced back to equalise with a debut goal for substitute Andy Williams.

The mid-week visit of Championship team Crystal Palace will provide Rovers with an even sterner test. Coming off the 4-1 thrashing of Southampton at St Mary's, Palace will be brimming with confidence. Palace fans were treated to a rare James Scowcroft hat-trick, the last time the forward scored three goals in a game, almost 10 years ago, George Burley was his manager at Ipswich and Tony Blair was still new to Downing Street.

The former England Under-21 forward produced three well-taken goals to give the south Londoners a reassuring victory against last season's play-off semi-finalists.

Looking at the history of the Eagles, the original Crystal Palace Football Club was formed on 10 September 1905, with its home ground at the Crystal Palace stadium, in Sydenham, on the site of The Crystal Palace. The team played in the Southern League until 1920, when they were promoted to Division Three of The Football League.

Nicknamed "The Glaziers" - a reference to their original home in the shadow of Joseph Paxton's enormous glass exhibition hall - Palace remained in the lower divisions of the Football League until the 1960s, the time period up until which players such as Peter Simpson established records that will probably never be bettered (such as Simpson's 165 goals, which he gained in just 195 appearances).

One of the stars of 1960s was Johnny "Budgie" Byrne, who had the distinction of being the first player from the old Division Four to play for England. Byrne joined West Ham United for a then British transfer record, and would go on to net a hat trick for the English national side. The club was finally able to make it to the First Division in 1969.

Unfortunately, the only constant in the life of a Palace fan is change, and "The Glaziers" - or "The Eagles" as they became known - plummeted back to the Third Division in the early 1970s, following successive relegations.

It wasn't until the arrival of former Chelsea star Terry Venables as manager that Palace's fortunes took a change for the better. Venables took the team back up to Division One for two seasons, from 1979 to 1981, before leaving for QPR early in the 1980-81 season, one that ended in relegation.

Palace stayed in the second tier until 1988-89 when they regained their Premier status. It was the start of sixteen remarkable yo-yo years for Palace with nine promotions or relegations and an unsuccessful Play-off appearance. With Palace bouncing up and down between the top two divisions life was always heaven or hell for their fans.

After the relegation of 2004-05 Palace reached the Play-Offs in 2005-06 where they were unceremoniously dumped by Adie Boothroyd's Watford. Expectations for the 2006-07 season were high but after a season of ups and downs, Palace eventually finished in 12th position.

In total Rovers and Palace have met 55 times, with Palace edging it with 28 wins to Rovers' 20. The first time the teams met was on 9 October 1920 in a Third Division game at Eastville with the home team narrowly winning 2-1. The return match was played the following week and the Glaziers came out 3-0 victors.

The highest scores have come from this era also with the Londoners thrashing Rovers 7-4 on 26 March 1927. Rovers' best result was a 6-1 rout at Eastville on 5 September 1931 (although Palace won the return fixture 5-0).

The last time the teams met in League action was in 1978-79 as Palace charged towards a Championship of the Second Division. Rovers had shocked the South Londoners with a 1-0 Boxing Day Selhurst Park victory. Palace reversed the result over the Easter fixtures winning by the same score at Eastville.

The teams clashed in a Full Members Cup game on 18 December 1990 when First Division Palace beat Gerry Francis' Second Division Rovers 2-1 at Selhurst Park.

Talking after their victory on Saturday James Scowcroft reflected on the coming season, "Last season people expected us to do something, This year there is not so much expectation and sometimes that can work for you. We have a smaller squad but we are more together."

Afterwards the manager, Peter Taylor, challenged his players to eradicate the inconsistency that blighted last season. "We won our first three games and we finished 12th, so we have to learn. People are saying we will finish mid-table. We are going to prove a point on that one. It is nice to start the season with a good win. We had a fantastic following here today"

Taylor also expressed his pleasure for James Scowcroft on scoring his first Palace hat-trick. "I was delighted for James Scowcroft on getting his first Palace hat-trick because we have been having chats pre-season as he hasn't been scoring enough goals. He is such a good player in the air and on the ground and can be a real handful as he showed today."

"James does not score enough goals," Taylor said. "We had a chat in pre-season, and I told him that. It is something he has to look at. He wants to join in the play all the time, but he has to learn to get closer to the box and closer to the goal.

"We ended last season very well, and people know their own jobs and what is required of them now," Taylor said. "We are looking to pick up where we left off in May, and start the season well. It has been an excellent pre-season, but that counts for nothing now and we have to go out there and perform when it really counts."

One figure who may be familiar to the Gas faithful is new Palace signing Jeff Hughes from Lincoln City. The 22-year-old has penned a three-year contract at Selhurst Park. He joined Lincoln in the summer of 2005 from his home town club Larne and went on to make 68 appearances for the Imps. Hughes said: "I had an enjoyable time at Lincoln but I'm looking forward to the step up and the challenge."

Rovers 3-3 draw with West Bromwich Albion proved they can compete with teams at this level; however the horror show at Home Park should remind GasHeads that the defence can be vulnerable. As Rovers discovered last season, good Cup runs do not necessarily run contrary to good league form. A good result against Palace should fill Rovers with confidence before their first home League One clash with Crewe on Saturday.

Written by Gerry Prewett