Tony Pulis would have to pull out stops to transform Palace's position

Sunderland may only have one point to their name ahead of Sunday's Wear-Tyne derby but right now I'd give them a better chance of avoiding relegation than Crystal Palace.

They managed to lose to Bristol City in the Capital One Cup, which is a major achievement given City can't win a game at their own level! And the one thing I can't work out is why Palace keep leaving Kevin Phillips on the substitutes' bench; I know he's 40 years of age but they need goals and he's still a quality finisher. On Monday he came on after 69 minutes when Palace were 4-1 down. Why not start with Phillips and then replace him, even if he plays for an hour, rather than use him to try and put out fires that are well established? It may not make a huge difference to Palace's fortunes, but it's got to be worth ago because so far the Premier League hasn't been the paradise that Palace fans hoped it would be.

Jeff's Gem of the Week

Exeter's 4-0 win at Scunthorpe was an excellent effort but I'm going for Derby's 3-2 away win at Watford. Steve McClaren has made a fantastic start there and his team is scoring lots of goals, which is great to see; I've got a lot of sympathy for Nigel Clough but at least he's bounced straight back into a job at Sheffield United. My only concern for Derby is that they are conceding a fair few goals as well, so I'm sure Steve will be looking at ways to close the door. It's a good time to be a Derby fan - they've got Birmingham at home this weekend and you'd think they've got a good chance of winning that and they've got Jamie Ward scoring goals again. They've got a decent blend of experience and youth in the squad, too. Steve will want to play an expansive passing game and whatever happens there will be some exhilarating games involving Derby, that's for sure.