Palace welcome West Ham Olympic Stadium victory reports

Crystal Palace co-chairman Steve Parish has welcomed reports that West Ham are the preferred bidder for the Olympic Stadium as it takes his club a step closer to building their own ground.

The Championship side want to build a 25,000-seater stadium in Crystal Palace, on the site where the club was first based.

But their plans are dependent on West Ham winning the Olympic Stadium bid as Tottenham wanted to develop the current stadium at Crystal Palace for athletics.

And Parish admits he is working on the assumption that West Ham will win the bid, giving his club the green light to ramp up their plans.

"We are working on the basis that West Ham get the Olympic Stadium," said Parish. "Our plans are based on the fact that Crystal Palace will not be used as an athletics stadium.

"We are cautiously optimistic about the reports that West Ham are the preferred bidder - speaking personally, I don't see how there can be any other conclusion if we want an Olympics legacy.

"We are confident that West Ham will get the Olympic Stadium as that is what we have been basing our own designs on."