Crystal Palace vs Swansea City match report: Patrick Bamford rues missed opportunity

Crystal Palace 0 Swansea City 0

Patrick Bamford challenges Kyle Naughton for the ball (Getty Images)

This has been an outstanding year for Crystal Palace, but this was not a great day for the south London club.

While their manager, Alan Pardew, was bemoaning the absence through injury of key forwards after their second successive goalless draw, England Under-21 striker Patrick Bamford was announcing that he has ended his season-long loan from Chelsea early after playing only 119 minutes of Premier League football.

“It has been terrible,” Bamford, 22, said. “I would have been more content if I had been given a chance and not taken it. I haven’t started a game in the Premier League so for a young player like me that is not what you need.”

Bamford had signed off his spell at Selhurst by missing arguably the best chance of a poor game, but his departure will still come as an unpleasant surprise for Pardew, who had expected to speak to Chelsea in the coming days about Bamford’s future. On tihs evidence, with Yannick Bolasie, Connor Wickham and Bakary Sako on the sidelines, Palace need all the attacking help they can get.

Yohan Cabaye took exception to some challenges by Jack Cork and picked up a booking that will prevent him from facing Chelsea on Sunday.

Palace should have won it when Ashley Williams blocked James McArthur’s shot and Bamford hit the loose ball at Lukasz Fabianski.

Gylfi Sigurdsson could have scored for Swansea but Wayne Hennessey got a strong left hand to the Icelander’s injury-time free-kick.

It was Swansea’s fifth point from four games under caretaker Alan Curtis, who has ensured that the club have less need to rush to replace Garry Monk as permanent manager. “Results will buy the club a bit of time, but we have to bring the right person in,” Curtis said. “If it takes a bit longer, or until the summer, so be it.”