WARD IS WARY

Crystal Palace defender Joel Ward has stated that all the players at the club are aware of Manchester United’s Ashley Young, who has a reputation for diving in order to win penalties against the opposition.

Young has been involved in several controversial penalty appeals since coming to Manchester United in a £16 million deal several years ago. Previously, he did not get the same reputation since he was at Aston Villa – a club with a much lower profile than United. Young was guilty of simulation against Crystal Palace a few years ago.

He turned out to be lucky back then, as United were given a penalty, which proved to be the difference between the two teams. Ward is keen to avoid a repeat of the same when Crystal Palace travel to Old Trafford in order to take on the United team, which is struggling to get results. Ward has stated that the players need to be aware of Young and not give him any opportunity to go down in the penalty box. Young has been warned several times by previous manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

The disciplinary reaction has also been taken by current manager David Moyes, but so far it has not had any effect on the England international.

“You have to stay on your feet and not dive in and not dangle your legs. Players are always going to look for opportunities to maybe an advantage but we’ll be trying to stop him getting into those positions. It has been an interesting season at United. And they still have the players who can turn it on. It’s never a good time to play them but we’re going to turn up believing in our own ability to make sure we give them a good game,” said Ward ahead of the match.