Graeme Lee has given his view on Crystal Palace defeat and wishes Hartlepool United supporter well after incident at Selhurst Park

Play was stopped at Selhurst Park early in the second half when referee Peter Bankes was alerted to distress from a number of supporters among the 4,700 travelling Pools fans.

Emergency crews from both teams raced over to deal with the incident in the stands with play stopped for around seven minutes in total.

Both sets of players gathered around the dugouts while the incident was being attended to with play resuming just after the hour mark.

“We could see the fans waving, but we weren’t exactly sure what was going on,” said Lee.

“Thankfully the game got stopped and the medical team from both parties were quick and we hope to god, whoever was ill, it’s not too serious and they have a full recovery.”

Lee's thoughts were echoed by everyone inside of Selhurst Park who gave the medical teams a standing ovation having dealt with the incident.

It left a shadow over Pools’ FA Cup tie in which they were spirited in their defeat to the Premier League side.

The visitors might have feared the worst after Patrick Vieira’s men raced into an early two-goal lead through Marc Guehi and the impressive Michael Olise as Pools struggled to cope with the difference in standard.

But Lee changed his system and his side were able to put up a fight in the second half after play resumed which earned them applause at the full-time whistle from both sets of supporters.

“I was disappointed in the first half. We didn’t really start off,” said Lee.

“Obviously you can understand a little bit with who your opponents are but I just felt as though we had to be aggressive and try and stop them from playing.

“We allowed them to come at us a little bit too much. It was really disappointing in the goals we conceded because it wasn’t Crystal Palace breaking us down.

“It’s a freekick coming into the box and the lad from five or 10 yards out is free and just knocks it in and then we invite them on from a silly pass where they’ve intercepted and come back at us again.

“So you give yourself a massive challenge against Premier League opposition.

“We had Fergie’s chance after we went 1-0 down, where maybe if we get that the belief would have come a bit quicker, and then in the second half, once we tweaked the formation, I think it could have been anyone we were playing against.

“We were in the game and causing problems. We were more on the front foot and we got some opportunities and you come away thinking ‘what if’ had we started how that was.

Lee added: “The worst thing had happened. We were 2-0 down. So it was a case of ‘let's go and give everything you’ve got’ and they did.

“A goal would have been nice just to give us that little bit more.”

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