McNeil: I’ve never played in anything like it!
Dwight McNeil was full of praise for both sets of supporters – home and away – following the 2-2 draw with Beșiktaș in Istanbul.
The 26-year-old made his first start since the opening day of the season in the rip-roaring atmosphere of Beșiktaș Park, as a stunning pre-match display, combined with a vociferous travelling Palace support throughout, made for quite the occasion.
The match met those standards for entertainment as well, as Palace largely dominated in territory and chances, but were held to a 2-2 draw after two clinical finishes from the hosts.
Nevertheless, McNeil was pleased with the improved level of performance from Palace on the night.
“It's hard to describe – I've never played in anything like it,” McNeil told Palace TV. “The noise and how loud it was, it was difficult to talk to anyone at times or hear anyone!
“I think we relished it as well as a team and we took it on. I thought we definitely deserved to win, but it was definitely a much better reaction from the game on Sunday.
“[The away fans were] massive, massive. I've always said, even playing against Palace, the fans are always amazing. They've travelled so much in the last week, so it's a massive credit to them.
“It's just a massive thank you to them. We couldn't do it without them – and now we're back at home on Sunday [against Newcastle]. We’ve got to take what we did well tonight and what we could have improved on into Sunday.
“The fans are a massive part of this club and we can't appreciate them enough and the travelling that they're doing for us.”
Reflecting overall on the match, McNeil added: “We knew how difficult it was going to be coming here, so we knew we had to be focused from minute one and that's what we set out to do.
“We did really well, played really well in the first half. Then I thought we dominated the game, and then conceding right at the end of the first-half was a bit of a sucker punch for everyone.
“But I thought we reacted so well coming out in the second-half and I think deservedly went 2-1 up. It was always difficult – they were going to have their moments and their chances and they took one.
“It was definitely a positive performance compared to Sunday, but now we've got to go again because we've got another massive one on Sunday coming up.”
As for his own role, McNeil noted: “The gaffer’s spoken about getting the two No. 10s around JP [Mateta] as much as we can and I thought we did that well at times tonight.
“I was just buzzing to play. I haven't played much this season, but I'm just happy to play when I can and especially in a game like this tonight and with the atmosphere there was… I'm very privileged and very pleased to play.
“And like I say, if I hopefully just keep playing and get that confidence going, with more minutes, I'm sure that will come.”