Palmer: I can learn a lot from Kewell

Palmer scored the only Reds goal after a poor pass from KSV keeper Wouter Biebauw found Reece Grego-Cox who played in Palmer to slot coolly past the ‘keeper.

Speaking after the game, Palmer was delighted with the atmosphere within the dressing room and hoped that this positivity within the squad could be translated onto the pitch.

He said: “The changing room is so good, every single day everyone gets on.

“I can walk in and sit next to anyone in that changing room and have a laugh so it’s excellent, but we just need to take that out onto the pitch.

“There’s got to be a togetherness, but you can see people are backing each other out on the pitch because we’ve become mates.

“As long as we can work hard, fight for each other, play the right way I think it will be a good season.”

Despite scoring the only Crawley goal, and bagging the man of the match award in the process, Palmer felt his scoring exploits would mean more to him if he could do it in competitive games.

He added: “It’s always good to get off to a goalscoring start but the season’s not started and it doesn’t really count for anything.

“It’s all well and good and it feels nice but the hard work and the goals and everything like that will mean something at the start of next week.

“That’s the main focus and that’s what we’re working towards.”

Palmer was also full of praise for new boss Kewell, and the ex-Lincoln City man felt he could learn a lot from the Australian.

He said: “He (Kewell) has been excellent to me on and off the pitch.

“He’s always in my ear telling little things and after the career he had he would have learned a lot and he’s passing that on to me which is so helpful.

“I’m loving it, I’m enjoying it.

“He’s got us working hard to win every day, we’re trying to get better and trying to play the way he wants us to play and make the correct decisions out on the pitch when we need to.

“I’ve been in touch with Harry for a while.

“He’s had a fantastic career and I know that I can learn an awful lot.”