Dwight Gayle hit a hat-trick as Crystal Palace won 3-0 at Capital One Cup opponents Walsall.
Gayle had wrapped the game up when he completed his hat-trick after just 41 minutes to send Palace safely through to the third round.
Gayle revealed he had been rattled by manager Tony Pulis' departure but will look to focus his efforts on the pitch.
He said: "I'd be lying if I said it hadn't because the team has been a bit confused as to what was happening but Keith (Millen) has sorted us out and hopefully we can repay that faith by winning on Saturday (at Newcastle).
"With all that's going on off the pitch it's nice to get on the pitch and get a win and hopefully we can push on from it on Saturday and get three points.
"They are trying to sort stuff out but we need to concentrate on what's on the pitch and get the results."
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