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Dwight Gayle admits Tony Pulis’s exit has affected Crystal Palace but hailed the calming effect of caretaker boss Keith Millen.
Gayle completed his treble after just 41 minutes to send Palace safely through to the third round of the Capital One Cup.
It brought relief to Palace who have been in turmoil since the man behind their revival last season quit a fortnight ago.
Gayle was rattled by Pulis’s departure but is focusing his efforts on the pitch.
He said: “I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t because the team has been a bit confused as to what was happening but Keith has sorted us out and, hopefully, we can repay that faith by winning on Saturday at Newcastle.
“With all that’s going on off the pitch it’s nice to get on the pitch and get a win and, hopefully, we can push on from it on Saturday and get three points. They are trying to sort stuff out but we need to concentrate on what’s on the pitch and get the results.”
It was Millen’s third game in charge after Palace lost their opening two Premier League games to Arsenal and West Ham.
Gayle began the scoring after seven minutes before doubling the lead with a low free-kick on 25 minutes. Four minutes before the break he drilled in a third and Millen admitted it eases any early pressure at Selhurst Park.
“It’s not been easy but you don’t want to make excuses,” he said. “We needed that. We didn’t perform against West Ham and it will give everyone a lift. Coming in on Thursday there will be a lot more smiles on the faces.
“Dwight showed how clinical he can be. As a group of people we really needed that.”
