It was a morale boosting win against Southampton for Crystal Palace last Saturday and the Welshman Joe Ledley who was an important part of the victory says the squad must now ‘kick on’ after what has been a difficult period for the club.
Prior to the victory over Claude Puel’s side, Palace had gone six games without a win and pressure on the players and more importantly the manager Alan Pardew was beginning to tell.
But two goals from Christian Benteke and one from James Tomkins lifted the Eagles last Saturday as they can now look forward to Hull this weekend.
Ledley feels Palace might have been ‘unlucky’ in some of the defeats
During the barren six game losing run, the Eagles endured some harsh defeats; Ashley Barnes scored late to give Burnley a win a couple of weeks ago, and then more recently a brace from Fernando Llorente inside stoppage time gifted Swansea an incredible win, but Ledley felt overall his side had been ‘unlucky’ during those testing times.
But speaking about the 3-0 victory over Southampton, the Welsh international said: “We put in a sharper performance, defended well as a team and finally got a clean sheet.”
It was a much needed victory for a side that was languishing at the wrong end of the table, and the 29-year-old said the win was a much welcome one: ”We needed that. Not just for the gaffer, but mainly for us as players. We needed to perform and we know that we can do better than we have done.”
‘We need to kick on now’ says Ledley
After securing that priceless victory over an in-form Saints side, Ledley says it can’t stop, the team must continue to push and move clear from the bottom end of the table.
Palace have got some tough games coming up over the festive period, but a positive result at Hull this Saturday would really put them in a good position heading into games against Chelsea and Manchester United.
“We are capable of that and that is what Crystal Palace is about, working hard and keeping clean sheets and that paid off today,” said Ledley.