PALACE boss Ian Holloway says he's beaten tomorrow's opponents Middlesbrough before as a manager and wants to do it again.
It's fifth-versus-sixth as the Championship promotion race hots up, and on Tuesday night, Hull City battled to a 2-1 win over Derby County to take second spot.
And Middlesbrough themselves recorded a narrow 1-0 victory over Leeds United to stay within range of the leading pack.
Holloway is confident the Eagles can concentrate on their own form after last Friday's impressive comeback at Watford, while he has hailed Boro duo Tony Mowbray and Steve Gibson ahead of the clash tomorrow.
"It will be tough with the good group of players they've got, but I like the way we're playing," he said.
"I've had great results against them before so I want to try and repeat that.
"There is no surprise to see Middlesbrough up there because Tony is a fantastic manager.
"They've got ambitions and also one of the best chairmen in the game, Mr Gibson, who is really supportive.
"But we're looking to keep our own form going and get a win."
Meanwhile, Mowbray still has the second automatic promotion spot in his sights after seeing his side fall to sixth in recent weeks.
But Tuesday's win over Neil Warnock's side stopped the rot thanks to Curtis Main's 81st-minute winner.
"Nobody at our club has given up second spot," said Mowbray.
"If we can improve on last year's position we'll finish in the top six, and if we're not in the top two, which is still very much there for us, then we'll have a mini-competition to get into the Premier League.
"If we can have that same fighting spirit about us [as against Leeds] we'll be okay.
"It's amazing to think we lost five league games and are still in the top six.
"When we get to the last ten games we've got to have enough points to be in there fighting with the rest and competing to get into the top two, and we're only going to do that by winning games."
And Boro defender Andre Bikey says they will be looking for another three points at Selhurst Park tomorrow after Tuesday.
"We had lost five games and that was a bad record for us, a bad moment," he said. "But now the bad run is over.
"There is still a long way to go -we know what we have to do.
"We have to do the same in the next game at Crystal Palace. If we play like that we can beat anyone."
Holloway has a selection headache with Jonathan Williams and Kevin Phillips pushing for starts after their brilliant performances at Watford.
And Mile Jedinak is set to return after a successful operation on the broken eye socket sustained at Huddersfield Town recently.
That should mean Alex Marrow drops to the bench, while Phillips may fight it out with Stephen Dobbie in supporting Glenn Murray through the middle.
Joel Ward and Danny Gabbidon are just a bit short of match fitness but have returned to training, while Jonathan Parr will be hoping for a recall after sitting on the bench for the past two games.
