Peter Taylor has revealed striker Shefki Kuqi is suffering from a loss of confidence but has backed the Finn to rediscover his form in front of goal.

Kuqi has managed just one goal in eight Eagles appearances since his big money move from Blackburn in August and was hauled off by Taylor after 73 minutes of the clash against Leicester City last Saturday after another ineffective display.

Taylor admitted Kuqi's confidence has been effected during his current rut and is not showing good value for his £2.5million price tag.

"He's not showing his value at the minute or the reason that we spent £2.5million on him," said Taylor.

"But I know he will get there soon.

"He is short on confidence. He knows he's not firing. He is fully committed and fully confident he will reach his standards eventually but he is not there at the minute."

Carrying the burden of a big transfer fee is troubling the hitman according to Taylor, who brought the former Ipswich Town striker to Selhurst Park on the last day of the summer transfer window.

"I'm sure the price tag weighs on his mind as he is a caring lad," he said.

"But when you do your checks about a player, you know what a first class boy he is. He feels as though he's not repaying us at the minute but all it's going to take is that hard work to get it back."

Despite his lack of scoring action in recent weeks, Taylor is set to persist with the frontman for Plymouth Argyle's visit to Selhurst Park on Saturday.

Taylor hopes he can be in the right place at the right time and score that elusive goal to get him going again.

"It's just a case of him carrying on working hard, the team helping him and him helping the team," Taylor added.

"I'm sure one day the ball will drop and he will put it in the net and all of a sudden we will be off - I've got no doubt about it."