RYAN Inniss lasted just 42 minutes on his loan debut for Gillingham on Wednesday night.
The young powerhouse impressed against Sheffield United but had to be taken off due to injury moments before half-time in front of Tony Pulis' right-hand man Dave Kemp.
And Kemp, although disappointed to see the centre-back go off, is pleased Palace are sending out a number of their young players to gain experience at Football League level.
"I went to watch Ryan last night at Gillingham," Kemp told the Advertiser.
"Unfortunately he got injured but for the time he was on, he was doing well.
"I think it's great for our players to go out and play league football because the way they're trying to develop football in this country with the U21 league, it has no relevance to what you call real football in the professional game.
"If you can improve and keep going, you need to play in these situations where winning matters to everyone concerned.
"Ryan played for Gillingham where there were 6,000 people in the ground, and playing in front of the manager and the media, he is playing where it matters.
"If our players can play league games, it will improve them."
