Pulis thanks 'first-class' Crystal Palace fans

Pulis took over from Ian Holloway at Palace in November 2013 and eventually steered the club to Premier League survival.

The Welshman brought his tenure to an abrupt end in August due to his reported frustration over Palace's transfer activity and he was subsequently appointed as West Brom head coach in January.

Despite the circumstances of his departure - which came just two days before the 2014-15 campaign got under way - Palace fans still greeted Pulis' return with plenty of applause on Saturday.

"Obviously it's lovely coming back to a former club," he told reporters. "It's funny, thinking about coming here; we [when he was Palace manager] played Stoke here last year and [I] had a great reception from the away support. 

"To come here today and get that from the Palace supporters was first class.

"They [Palace] did very well for me last year and I think I repaid them a little bit with respect to what we did as well, in the dressing room and on the pitch. 

"It's a good club with unbelievable potential, and I mean that - frightening potential. 

"The supporters are wonderful and they have a good manager now [Alan Pardew] - they could push on, given the opportunity."

Saturday's win, courtesy of goals from James Morrison and Craig Gardner, moved West Brom eight points clear of the relegation zone with five games to go.

But Pulis is not getting carried away with regards to their survival chances just yet, targeting four more points to hit the 40 landmark, the figure generally considered enough to secure safety.

"I said to them [the players] afterwards, '40 points, give me 40 points'.

"I think it has been a good season for us then and that's what we should be aiming for. Five games to go, we can get 40 points."