Hodgson says he can turn Crystal Palace around

Under-pressure manager insists he has ‘resilience, strength and determination’ to see things through

LONDON:

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson said he will fight on after his side slipped to just five points above the relegation zone following a 4-1 thrashing by rivals Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday.

Brighton recorded their first top-flight victory of the year at the Amex Stadium, mounting pressure on Hodgson as his team remained in 14th spot on 24 points after playing 23 matches. But the loss stung even more for Palace fans, given their rivalry with Brighton is considered one of English football's most heated.

"My years in the game have given me the resilience to cope," Hodgson, 76, said.

"Of course, taunts from away supporters are part and parcel of our lives. "At the moment our own fans aren't very happy with anything that's going on at the club and they're making their feelings known as well. "I signed up to be manager of this football club and I have got the strength, the resilience and the determination to see things through.

I'm certainly not going to be cowed by that type of thing." The former England boss was also criticised by a section of Palace fans for bringing Michael Olise on as a substitute when they were 3-0 down.

The winger, 22, lasted less than 10 minutes before he had a recurrence of a hamstring injury.

"I was told that he couldn't start the game and everyone was quite comfortable with that," Hodgson said.

"They told me and he told me that he was fine to be on the bench and to play in the second half. Unfortunately, I don't have a crystal ball. "It's the same as the hindsight of 'you were losing 3-0, why did you bring him on?' The answer to that is we brought him all the way here to be on the bench to play in the second half and wanted our better players on the pitch."

Palace will next host 10th-placed Chelsea at Selhurst Park on Monday.