Eagle Eyed View: There’s a Palace star quietly doing the business and it’s not Zaha

This time last season he missed a penalty in a 0-0 home stalemate with Millwall in the midst of run which saw the team go five games without a hitting the back of the net.

This season he is still taking the penalties (three in two games), but this time they are flying in as the team sweeps all before them.

With 15 goals so far, he is only behind the freakishly highscoring Charlie Austin at Burnley and ahead of Blackburn’s £8million man Jordan Rhodes.

Enough clues? Of course, it’s the main frontman himself - Glenn Murray.

His 30-yard run before the finish to cap the 3-0 win over Derby on Saturday was one of the finest seen at Selhurst Park so far this season.

Murray’s exploits have been slightly overlooked so far this season, with new England international Zaha unsurprisingly commanding the column inches.

This is probably because he’s essentially doing what he is paid to do.

But that doesn’t preclude an appreciation of his current hot streak. He is delivering on what was promised when he defected from south coast rivals Brighton at the start of last season.

Spearheading the front three of Zaha and Yannick Bolasie, he fits the role of lone striker like a glove.

Barring Andy Johnson, has the club had a reliable 20 goal a season striker in the last 10 seasons?

He already went some way to earning a place in the hearts of Palace with his finish in last season’s fine 3-1 win at the Amex (look at the video for the evidence).

But he fell silent with the rest of the forwards in the second half of 2011/12 - as all attacking instinct, creativity and form was strangled out of the team for most of last season - leading to doubts about his future at the club.

The questions have stopped now and Murray is providing the answers.