Such an oddity, and perhaps in a lot of respects a welcome one, that we have nothing to play for as the clock ticks down to the final game of the season.

Or do we? We play Cardiff this Saturday as the Welsh side look for the points that will secure their position in the play-offs - and we have a score to settle.

If we beat them this Saturday and Middlesbrough manage all three points against Watford we could put a stopper in their Premier League hopes for at least one more year.

Any Palace fan that was present for that damp evening in South Wales, or watched it on the tele, or had their ear glued to the radio will have gone to bed that evening feeling slightly disappointed and a little ticked off as Cardiff progressed to the final of the League Cup without scoring a single goal against us in open play.

To be fair to Malky Mackay’s team they looked like they wanted it more on the night and several times, but for the width of a post, they nearly sealed their place in the final without having to go through the trauma of a penalty shoot-out.

On paper though it was our best chance of getting into a cup final for over 20 years and many fans, myself included, felt we could have done more to make that dream a reality.

That’s why it’s so important to give it a go this Saturday and really show our semi-final rivals what we’re all about.

That evening at the Cardiff City Stadium the home fans were singing: “Oh Dougie Freedman, you know what you said!” – after a misrepresentation from certain media outlets made it look like the Palace gaffer wrote the Bluebirds off before the second leg, using it to goad the legendary Scotsman and us fans.

According to the old adage actions speak louder than words, and with any luck Dougie’s on Saturday will drown the away crowd out completely.

Stephen Bridle is a member of Palace fanzine Five Year Plan. Follow them on Twitter @fypfanzine or go to fiveyearplanfanzine.co.uk.