Paddy McCarthy could be back in action for Crystal Palace by mid-March after making good progress recovering from his shoulder operation.

The Irishman went under the knife earlier this month to fix a problem that has seen him dislocate the joint three times this season and he was expected to be out until at least April.

But a visit to the surgeon this week revealed that the operation was healing better than predicted.

“We have had good news ,” said Warnock.

“The surgeon is delighted with the operation and says he could be back in the fray in the middle of March.”

Warnock has also warned Jose Fonte and Matt Lawrence to up their game and threatened to bring in a new central defender if they follow up their poor showing against Ipswich with another bad performance tomorrow at Watford.

Asked if he planned to get a replacement for McCarthy, Warnock said: “Not unless the centre-halfs play like they did last Saturday in the first half, then I will look to get a centre-half next week if I can.

“I thought both centre-halfs were very poor first half and we looked at the video on Tuesday and it didn’t change my mind.

“I just wanted to make a point really. Hopefully it will give both centre-halfs a bit of a kick up the backside because they can’t be complacent.

“I don’t want players to stroll through things, I want players to know how it is.

“Fortunately the two games coming up against Watford and Charlton they won’t be needing any motivation.”