Taking a point from last weekend’s clash against Bournemouth wasn’t exactly the result Crystal Palace were after but one man saw plenty of positives in the fight against relegation.
Heading to Dean Court on Saturday for the latest Premier League action, Palace took the lead twice in the game through Luka Milivojevic and Wilfried Zaha but the hosts hit back both times including a last minute leveller.
Southampton now have a game in hand on us, but they are three points shy of our tally. Goal difference in is our favour though, so survival even at this stage remains in our hands.
Reflecting on the game, Roy Hodgson told Crystal Palace FC that the players simply needed to keep believing in themselves.
‘We played very well. The players must be very disappointed frustrated they couldn`t hold on to the lead on to occasions and we certainly created enough chances to put the game to bed in actual fact, but didn`t take them, and as a result we drew.’
‘I`ve got confidence in the team and I think the team show they`ve got confidence in themselves.’
👉 https://t.co/P3OhL6eWDJ pic.twitter.com/vuyGuw9X8O
? Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) April 8, 2018
As for the goals conceded on the day, in particular the last minute leveller Hodgson went on to say.
‘You`re always liable to concede from a corner kick or a free kick late in the game and that`s what happened to us; a young lad`s lost his marker and that`s the end of it in the 89th minute. I thought the team played very well up until then and if we continue to play like that in the next five games then I believe we can take enough points.’
As for confidence and belief, Hodgson knew that was now huge for the side given the few games that remain and the position we are in.
‘I`ve got confidence in the team and I think the team show they`ve got confidence in themselves. The way we played our football today showed that, but it`s going to be a dogfight with all the teams down there and basically it can boil down to the fact you score some lucky goals or you survive some really hairy escapes.’
Confidence is good but results matter !
? Robert Freeman (@rob_trudy) April 8, 2018
Building on that topic the former England man went on to talk about how he felt the performance had shown the self belief in the side, and compared to previous games, he felt Bournemouth were under far more threat than we had been and obviously that is how we have to approach the games in the remainder of the season.
With a possible penalty shout on Zaha, he ended by saying.
‘It was close. I think I`ll have to look at it again. The fourth official said that he got the ball first, but that didn`t stop the referee in the last minute giving a free kick when Tomkins got the ball first. I didn`t quite know what the difference between those two situations was.’