Danny Butterfield's surprise hat-trick heroics may have achieved more than prolonging Crystal Palace's FA Cup run - it could help save the club.
Butterfield, a right-back by trade, was shoved up front for Tuesday night's fourth-round replay against Wolves and scored a stunning six-minute second-half treble to earn a 3-1 win and a lucrative fifth-round visit from Aston Villa on Valentine's Day which could boost the Selhurst Park coffers by £400,000.
But the bigger picture could see an investor persuaded to come forward to buy the club that chairman Simon Jordan has been trying to sell since July 2008, and Warnock said: "It would be about time. I feel sorry for Simon. He's tried and tried to sell the club. There are not many supporters like him, prepared to throw away £25-35million."
He added: "He's not coming to games at the moment - I don't know why. I told him he could sit on the bench and no-one would notice him.
"One or two people blame him for the 10-point deduction but if anyone is going to blame him it should be me for losing 10 points when I thought we could go up. But I don't blame him at all, I know how hard he has worked.
"So hopefully now someone else will come in. There is excitement here now.
"We're going back to basics. No prima donnas, none of the stories you see on the front pages these days. This is real football."
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