Roy Hodgson has proved he brings Premier League stability to Crystal Palace, says defender Scott Dann

BY SAM SMITH

Scott Dann has insisted that Roy Hodgson can keep Crystal Palace stable in the Premier League.

The Eagles have had a mixed start to the season – their 2-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers left them 13th after seven matches.

There have been some positive results. A 3-1 victory against Manchester United has been the highlight and the South Londoners were a few minutes away from beating rivals Brighton before Alexis Mac Allister’s late equaliser.

Some supporters had voiced their frustration with Hodgson after a run of seven successive defeats at the end of last season was only halted by a draw with Tottenham on the final day. However, the improved form this campaign has silenced most of those critics.

Long-serving defender Dann believes Hodgson can continue to bring stability. He said: “He has been great for the club and has a massive amount of experience managing some top teams – some national teams.

“He’s got a wealth of experience to bring to the club. That has shown over the last three years. When he came in it was quite a turbulent time – we had had quite a few managers come in a quick space of time but he came in and steadied the ship. and

“Since then we have always known that he has that ability to keep the club stable, to build and add players along the way to make us stronger going into the next year.

“He gave us that stability from day one when he first came in. we have built on that as a squad in terms of our performances each year.”

Palace welcome Leeds United to Selhurst Park tomorrow and Dann is hoping for a better performance from the loss at Wolves last Friday. The fixture will be the first time that the Eagles have faced the Whites in the Premier League since 1998.

And Dann is targeting a victory against Marcelo Bielsa’s side before the November international break.

“It’s nice to always go into that [international] break on a high,” the 33-year-old told Premier League Productions.

“From experience, it’s nice to go into the break with a win. But even more so because of the fact that we’re at home. Yes, against a team who have looked good – but it’s a game at home that we look at and think ‘we should be getting three points here.’ Whether it’s Leeds or another team, that fact doesn’t change in that respect.

“Leeds have been out of the Premier League for a while but have come up full of confidence, they look really good. They have confidence in the way that they play and have trust in the way that their manager sets them out.

“They’re a bit unique, they play man-to-man at times. There are games that I’ve watched where they look really good, on the front foot, so we know it’s going to be a tough game playing against them but we’re confident in our own ability as a team to make sure we get the right result.”