GEORGE Burley believes new signing Anthony Gardner is the man to restore some steel to Crystal Palace's defence.

Burley is keen to avoid a repeat of the Eagles' weak rearguard display in the 3-0 defeat at Scunthorpe and hopes the loan acquisition of Gardner will toughen up his back four.

The Palace boss has always known his squad lacks depth.

But that was laid bare last Saturday as captain Paddy McCarthy limped off injured in the first half at Glandford Park and midfielder Alex Marrow had to fill in at centre-back.

Scunthorpe took the lead just a minute later and doubled their advantage by half-time, persuading Burley he needed to prioritise his defence as he aims to halt a run of four straight defeats.

Gardner, the former Tottenham Hotspur defender, arrives from Palace's Championship rivals Hull City on loan until January 3.

And Burley thinks the experienced 29-year-old will bring much-needed stability at the back.

"Anthony's signing gives us more competition for places," said the Eagles manager.

"He was a top player at Tottenham and has been at Hull. He is a tremendous centre-half and he will strengthen our defence up.

"Our young wingers have been excellent this season but we can't play them every week. I felt it important we signed a centre-back to stabilise things and work from there.

"There's no doubt we are missing a few up front but we have to get on with the squad we have and make sure we're a bit more solid."

The defender has spent the past two years with Hull, having signed from Spurs in 2008, after a successful loan spell.

Originally a centre-forward or left-winger, he started his career at Port Vale and made his debut against Sheffield United in October 1998.

After 44 appearances for Vale he earned a £1 million move to Spurs in January 2000, but his early career at White Hart Lane was blighted by injury and in his first three seasons he managed just 40 appearances.

During the 2003-04 campaign he managed to establish himself with 33 appearances for the north London club, and was called up to the England senior squad for a friendly against Denmark in November 2003.

Another season of injuries followed, but in 2005-06 he struck up a strong centre-back partnership with Michael Dawson, making another 16 starts.

A fractured fibula against Chelsea in 2007 spelt the beginning of the end for Gardner at the Lane however.

The following year, having been unable to impress new manager Juande Ramos, he went to Everton on loan but failed to make a senior appearance for the Toffees, before joining Hull later that year.