Pardew wants Palace to build on Southampton win
Crystal Palace broke a run of six losses by beating Southampton 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday, a win Alan Pardew wants to build on.
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew urged his side to build momentum after beating Southampton 3-0 in the Premier League at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
Palace cruised to victory thanks to a birthday brace from Christian Benteke, with James Tomkins also on the scoresheet, as they ended their run of six straight league defeats in style.
Pardew's men lost 5-4 at Swansea City last week, despite leading 4-3 late in the game, but three points saw them move away from the relegation zone and Pardew hailed improvements at the back as the key to his team's victory.
"Our home form has not been what I would like," he said. "Defensively we needed to be sound, that was a box we needed to tick. I think we looked sound all game.
"We were gifted the first goal, but it came from Christian working hard and pressurising the goalkeeper. In the six defeats, with the way we've played, I don't think we deserved what we got. There were some mistakes, which we tried to rectify.
"We need to build now. To go on the front foot. Hull next week is a big, big game. I feel pressure because I want this football club to be successful. The process we put in place came through for us.
"I would say next week at Hull is even more important a game. We can't lose that, we must go up there and get something."
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Fraser Forster was at fault for the Palace opener and the goalkeeper apologised for his mistake.
"It's just obviously flicked off my right foot as I've gone to clear it with my left and it's on a plate for Christian," Forster said. "It happens as a keeper and you've just got to take it and move on.
"It's not my first mistake, it won't be my last, and it's just disappointing because then we don't really recover, and to concede the second goal so quickly after that made it a big job for us to come back.
"It's just apologies to my team-mates for making that mistake, but it's one of those things. It's obviously disappointing. You don't want to make those mistakes, but it's part of the game and you just pick your head up and move on."
Boss Claude Puel felt a poor first half, coupled with errors, was key to his side's loss, their third from the last five matches.
"Congratulations to Crystal Palace because they used our mistakes to the maximum," said the Frenchman. "I think in the first half we did not play enough on the ground.
"For us it was a bad first half, without chances and without the ball, with duels, long balls, and this is not our game. It is important to stay with our philosophy against any opponent."