Neil Warnock has admitted that the recent performances of Dwight Gayle in a Crystal Palace shirt have disappointed him.

The 25-year-old has failed to impress Warnock, who returned to Selhurst Park for a second spell in charge of the south London club in August after Tony Pulis had resigned just before the start of the campaign.

Gayle failed to impress the Eagles boss when he came on as a substitute in Saturday’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Stoke City.

Warnock has made it clear that he would like to bolster his attacking options in the January transfer window and has warned the former Peterborough United striker to buck his ideas up if he wants to stay at the club.

“He hasn’t pushed himself into pole position in training really,” Warnock said of Gayle. “I was disappointed when he came on against Stoke if I’m honest. And in training he’s not really knocked my door down.”

Gayle has scored twice in the Premier League so far this season – against Newcastle United and Liverpool, as well as finding the net four times in the Capital One Cup, including a hat-trick against Walsall in August.

Gayle, who was playing for Bishop’s Stortford before being signed by Peterborough just over two years ago, has scored nine Premier League goals for Palace in 13 starts and 21 appearances from the substitutes bench.

Crystal Palace’s next Premier League match is against Manchester City on Saturday. Warnock’s team are 9.64 to win the match while last season’s champions are 1.27 to take three points from the clash.