Alan Pardew has said that Connor Wickham must learn from other Premier League centre-forwards in order to improve his game.
The 22-year-old impressed in his first three matches for Crystal Palace but has been asked to learn from Christian Benteke, Diego Costa and Olivier Giroud.
"We've really missed Connor. We've lost him since we beat Chelsea, and I think his presence through the middle has been a factor in us not getting more points than we've got," Pardew told reporters.
"But he hasn't got that [centre forward's] job nailed down, and he needs to understand what [Chelsea's] Costa does well, what [Liverpool's] Benteke does well, what Giroud does well for Arsenal.
"If he can add a bit of that to his game, his pace and his technique that he has, then we'll have ourselves a great player, but he is still learning."
Wickham looks set to miss Palace's visit to Liverpool due to a calf injury.
Jonathan McIntosh
