With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, Mackay accepted an offer of £350,000 from Crystal Palace in order to avoid Blake leaving on a free transfer the following summer, with the deal being completed on 24 August 2012. Although Blake was reluctant to leave Cardiff, he accepted the move in order to play first team football, stating "My dream has always been to play for the Bluebirds at Premier League level [...] I thought hard about everything before leaving City. But it was time to make a decision."