Roy Hodgson believes Crystal Palace should be looking up, not down, the Premier League table after taking plenty of positives from Saturday's draw with West Ham.
The Eagles are now unbeaten in their last four top-flight games after battling to back to secure a 1-1 draw against the Hammers at Selhurst Park, Wilfried Zaha's deflected goal cancelling out Mark Noble's first-half penalty.
However, it could have been a lot better for Hodgson's side had they taken their chances, James McArthur and January arrival Michy Batshuayi being guilty of missing two golden opportunities.
Rather than focus on it being two points dropped, Hodgson preferred to take the positives from the clash, believing the fact they had created so many chances was an indicator of how good team he has assembled.
Despite only being three points outside the relegation zone and available at 16/1 to go down, the ex-England boss says the Palace fans have few reasons to worry about the fight for survival below them.
“I have a very good football team," he said. They've shown it time and time again, and with bells on today against a team who should have beaten Liverpool on Monday night.
"Certainly, we should have beaten them. So I'm entitled to believe in this team, have faith in this team, and believe they should be less concerned about the teams below them and more about catching those above us.
"We don't have as many points as our performances have deserved.”
Palace can take a break from Premier League matters next weekend when they travel to Doncaster in the FA Cup fifth round.
The Londoners are 4/7 to advance to round six, while the Yorkshire outfit are 17/4 to cause an upset. The draw is 16/5.
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Roy Hodgson believes Crystal Palace should be looking up, not down, the Premier League table after taking plenty of positives from Saturday's draw with West Ham.
The Eagles are now unbeaten in their last four top-flight games after battling to back to secure a 1-1 draw against the Hammers at Selhurst Park, Wilfried Zaha's deflected goal cancelling out Mark Noble's first-half penalty.
However, it could have been a lot better for Hodgson's side had they taken their chances, James McArthur and January arrival Michy Batshuayi being guilty of missing two golden opportunities.
Rather than focus on it being two points dropped, Hodgson preferred to take the positives from the clash, believing the fact they had created so many chances was an indicator of how good team he has assembled.
Despite only being three points outside the relegation zone and available at 16/1 to go down, the ex-England boss says the Palace fans have few reasons to worry about the fight for survival below them.
“I have a very good football team," he said. They've shown it time and time again, and with bells on today against a team who should have beaten Liverpool on Monday night.
"Certainly, we should have beaten them. So I'm entitled to believe in this team, have faith in this team, and believe they should be less concerned about the teams below them and more about catching those above us.
"We don't have as many points as our performances have deserved.”
Palace can take a break from Premier League matters next weekend when they travel to Doncaster in the FA Cup fifth round.
The Londoners are 4/7 to advance to round six, while the Yorkshire outfit are 17/4 to cause an upset. The draw is 16/5.
Source: bet365.com