JESURUN Rak-Sakyi says the backing from Crystal Palace’s supporters inspired him during yesterday’s scoreless draw with Nottingham Forest.
The highly-rated youngster entered the fray on 26 minutes to replace the injured Jeffrey Schlupp and delivered a composed performance in front of a packed Selhurst Park and a televised audience watching at home.
Rak-Sakyi was seemingly unfazed by the occasion and admitted the cheering from the stands inspired him to showcase his talents.
The attacker told Palace TV: “It was good. It just gives you confidence to get on the ball and do more.
“When I heard the crowd cheering, they just wanted me to get on the ball and do something else again.
“You know that they have your back so even if you make a mistake, I know that when I get on the ball again, they’ll still be cheering me on.
“I just want to get on the ball as much as I can.
“I hoped one of (my shots) would go in, but I’ll just save that for another day.”
Rak-Sakyi enjoyed a successful loan spell at Charlton last season and had made a trio of late substitute appearances for the Eagles in Premier League games before yesterday.
But those only added up to nine minutes in total, almost making the 64 minutes racked up against Forest as good as a full debut.
Crystal Palace’s injury problems have been well documented and Rak-Sakyi is hoping to take full advantage of the situation in the coming weeks and months.
He said: “I was just feeling confident because I know we’ve got a lot of injuries and there’s a lot of spaces for me to impress.
“So I’m just happy that when I came on today, I was able to do as much as I could for the team.
“You’ve got to be switched on all the time.
“In football, things can change really quickly, so every meeting, everything that we do, you’ve got to be switched on because it could be you on the pitch, like it was me today.
“It’s very different because I’ve been on the sidelines quite a bit.
“Last season I was playing a lot, but this is the highest level of football and this is where I want to play, so even me watching is a good experience for me.
“Today, when I came on, it was very good. I just want to build on that.”
