MX23RW : Sunday, November 24 09:26:39| >> :120:39311:39311:
[monks data]
Attendance: 25,098
Crystal Palace logo
Premier League | Gameweek 14
Dec 1, 2018 at 3pm UK
 
Burnley logo

2-0

McArthur (16'), Townsend (77')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Our morale is still good, insists Palace boss Hodgson

Our morale is still good, insists Palace boss Hodgson
© Reuters
The Eagles are winless in eight Premier League games.

Roy Hodgson is adamant morale at Crystal Palace is good despite an eight-match winless run in the Premier League, five matches without a goal and just two goals at Selhurst Park all season.

Palace's recent run can be explained by the high calibre of the opposition.

Both home goals, in six matches, were penalties for Luka Milivojevic in the October 28 2-2 draw with Arsenal. Losses to Chelsea and Tottenham followed, before last week's goalless draw at Manchester United.

Burnley, who are a place behind Palace in 17th, visit Selhurst Park on Saturday, with Hodgson accentuating the positives and the need to convert chances after just eight league goals all season.

"I don't see any lack of confidence in them (the Palace players), or any lack of belief or faith in the fact we will climb the table," Hodgson added.

"Of course, to do that, we do need points and to get points we do need to win matches.

"I have confidence in them and I'd be very surprised if they didn't have quite a lot of confidence in themselves because they've seen how well they can do in recent games."

Hodgson is not too concerned by Palace's goalscoring record and hopes to be able to call upon Christian Benteke before too long, while Connor Wickham has returned to training following injury.

"We've created more goal chances at home than away," Hodgson said.

"The facts are there, starkly in front of us, telling me we aren't scoring enough goals. I believe it's not because we're not creating enough goalscoring chances, it's because we haven't been as good in front of goal as we would all like.

"For those guys at the front of our attack and the ones who will be getting the goal chances, it's important they do start to convert those chances into goals."

Benteke has not played since September 1 and is recovering from knee surgery in October.

Hodgson said "it's not impossible" that the Belgium striker could feature in the busy festive period.

"It's more a question of weeks away for Christian," Hodgson added.

The former England boss also has defender Scott Dann back in training, with Benteke his only injury absentee.

Burnley's normally resilient defence has been leaking goals this season, with Hodgson surprised by the statistic.

"It's a surprising fact, because I don't associate that with Burnley," Hodgson added.

"They're conceding a lot of goals. I'd put that down to the haphazard nature of football. I wouldn't say they're a vulnerable team in terms of their defending.

"I would put our lack of goals and their conceding too many goals pretty much in the same pot."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Matt McGeehan, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '48503847-7715-4fac-8b2e-7ac007af488b');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Our morale is still good, insists Palace boss Hodgson'});

ID:342969: cacheID:342969:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:5277:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Sean Dyche in charge of Burnley on October 5, 2018
Read Next:
Palace problems indicate Premier League's strength, says Burnley boss Dyche
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
6pm
Vikings
@
Bears
6pm
Lions
@
Colts
6pm
Patriots
@
Dolphins
6pm
Buccaneers
@
Giants
6pm
Chiefs
@
Panthers
6pm
Titans
@
Texans
6pm
Cowboys
@
Washington
9.05pm
Broncos
@
Raiders
9.25pm
49ers
@
Packers
9.25pm
Cardinals
@
Seahawks
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Crystal Palace121561017-78
19Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
20Southampton11119721-144


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!