The Crystal Palace fans gathered round the pool table here in the Tavern are struggling to fathom quite what is going wrong this year with their club.

With Alan Pardew relieved of his managerial duties, Sam Allardyce has stepped up to the fold but as yet has had little impact for the Eagles.

Allardyce is well known for making his teams tough to beat though and competitive, and he will be looking at the January transfer window to strengthen his ranks.

Midfield is a particular place of interest for Allardyce, where he could do with adding some players to supplement the talent of Yohan Cabaye, and even replace the African Nations Cup bound Wilfred Zaha.

Our landlord thinks that Palace need to add some much needed quality in the midfield area, so here are TWO midfielders Palace could look to sign in January…

Sam Hutchinson

If Allardyce does want to make his team hard to beat and add some steel to the middle of the park, then Sheffield Wednesday man Hutchinson could well be his man.

The Owls midfielder – who can also drop into centre half – has been exceptional at Hillsborough this term, making himself a firm fan favourite in the process.

He might not be the biggest name who Palace fans might want to come through the door, but in terms of efficiency and tenacity, Hutchinson could be an absolutely superb signing for the Eagles.

Gylfi Sigurdsson

One club who Palace could take advantage of and significantly weaken is Swansea City, who are in turmoil at the moment.

In Sigurdsson though they have one of the Premier League’s best attacking midfielders, and someone deadly from set piece situations.

The Icelandic international would not come cheap at all, but he would no doubt be worth any fee Palace would have to pay for his services.