SPARKS may have flown in the past when Richard Naylor and Neil Warnock have clashed but there is deep mutual respect between the two-nonsense Yorkshiremen.

Derek Davis

By Derek Davis

SPARKS may have flown in the past when Richard Naylor Neil Warnock have clashed but there is deep mutual respect between the two-nonsense Yorkshiremen.

Naylor reacted angrily when Warnock raised a finger from each hand to Town fans following a 1-1 draw when he was Sheffield United manager in January 2006.

Warnock later dismissed the incident as a misunderstanding and said then he had high regard for Naylor, who, incidentally, scored in Town's 5-1 thrashing of the Blades 18 months earlier.

Despite their differences Naylor has a lot of time for

He said; “When he was at Sheffield united we always had some great battles against his sides. Even more so when we were both pushing for promotion and the rivalry was intense.

“From what I hear from other players he is a very good manager to play for and he has had success.

“But he does manage to rub up opposition managers, supporters and players, the wrong way. Whether he does that on purpose I'm not sure but that is the way he is.

“That said I have a lot of respect for him because he gets players playing for him and he knows how to win.”

Naylor said: “He had a bit of time out of the game after all that and regrouped before going to Palace. He did very well for them last season and kicked on under him.

“They have not started too well but I'm sure he will turn it around. He has lost none of his passion due to what happened. I'm sure he is frustrated and annoyed as many people would be but he will go on and I'm sure he will have Palace challenging again.”

Now the Palace boss Warnock, affectionately known throughout football as Colin, will be looking for his Palace side to upset Ipswich's hoped for revival but Naylor has invariably had the last laugh against the Eagles too.

Naylor made his full start for Town against Palace 12 years ago when he replaced Alex Mathie who netted twice in the 4-1 League Cup win and then scored on Boxing Day 1996 in a 3-1 victory.

But most memorably was the epic in October 2003 when Naylor bagged a first half brace.

Naylor said: “I scored there a couple of years ago in an unbelievable game. Tommy Miller gave away a penalty but we still managed to win 4-3 when we had the likes of Darren Bent and Shefki Kuqi and we could score for fun.

“There are only a couple of us left from that but football changes and it is about how you are playing at this particular moment in time.

“It was a great time to be part of that team. We have had some great battles against Palace over the years and last season was special because it was my first start back after being out for so long.”

Shefki Kuqi scored the eventual winner and is now an outcast at Palace, while other former team-mates Alan Lee and James Scowcroft are out injured.

Naylor said: “I'm sure Alan will do well there. He was very popular here both in the dressing room and in the terraces because of the way he played and his scoring record.

“I will miss him particularly because he was my roomy and it was sad to see him go but that is how football works.

“I'm glad he is not playing. It will be disappointing for him but it is always the same when a player comes back as it is set up for them to score.”

derek.davis@eadt.co.uk