SMOOTH talking Crystal Palace boss Alan Smith insists his Rolex watch and dapper look are signs of the character needed to prosper in and out of the game.

He again made the point, which rumour has it was also one of his opening gambits when he took charge of Wycombe Wanderers five years ago, after his side had made it through a testing Worthington Cup tie against Cardiff City in mid-week.

Smith also stressed that his team is still in the learning process and one of the first things they need to take on board is the ability to function for a full 90 minutes on Smith's expensive time-piece and not just the 45 minutes they have managed in most of their games so far.

"We seem to be in that habit at the minute," admitted Smith's assistant, former Southampton midfielder Glenn Cockerill.

"Either doing well in the first half and poor in the second or the majority of games the other way round when we start slowly and then pick ourselves up.

"For what reason we're not sure, but we are showing signs of getting it right." The problem that has restricted Palace to one win and one draw in their four games so far couldn't have been more clearly illustrated than their last home game against Nottingham Forest when they were 3-0 down at half-time.

A second-half fightback got them back to 3-2 and only a missed penalty at the second time of asking in stoppage time deprived them of a point.

And Palace's stop-start style hasn't been lost on Burnley's midfield lynch-pin Kevin Ball.

"Palace are having a little bit of an indifferent start to the season by all accounts and they only play for 45 minutes, according to Alan Smith in the Press. So we will obviously have to watch out for which 45 minutes they are planning in playing in," he said. The Clarets could be accused of falling into the same category on a couple of occasions this season, against Hartlepool and Gillingham at Turf Moor.

However, Stan Ternent's side has been more consistent away from home, even if their last two games on the road have ended in defeat at Wolves and Hartlepool.

Ball believes, however, that they should have had more than just a point at Bolton to show for their two away league fixtures to date.

"I thought from the game at Wolves we deserved at least a point and when you go back and look at the way they scored their goal, when lady luck is on your side goals like that go in.

"But I think we have had a reasonable start to the season and I think the lads have acquitted themselves well. But the season's not made out of five games and we do realise we've got a long way to go."