That trip has been made all the harder through the loss on loan of two of our best players, Rasiak and Skacel. The fallout from the decision has been played out across the fan forums with a mixture of anger and resignation to a club on the slide.
It emerged today that we received substantial loan fees for the two players, a fact that should have been communicated to fans left bewildered at seemingly giving away our best players.
Lee Hoos has insisted that Rudi Skacel was 'adamant' he wanted to go and give himself a better chance at making the Czech Republic squad for the Euros with a move to Hertha Berlin. However, the player is on a long contract and if forced to stay is hardly going to go on strike and ruin any chance whatsover of going.
So, it's yet another setback is this most draining of seasons and the hope that the players themselves will be able to focus on the task in hand. They must be feeling in limbo after yesterday's news with an effective surrender of a promotion push.
What will the likes of Dyer, Surman and even Davies be thinking, with eyes inevitably drifting upwards to the riches of the Premiership?
We have to hope for a battling performance against Palace and a new manager in place as soon as possible to give the place a lift. A couple of decent loans from the Premiership and we may go some way to lifting that sinking feeling, but the noises coming out of St Mary's make even that unlikely.
New investment just can't come too soon.