Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson: If substitutions come off it makes you a genius

Roy Hodgson said his Crystal Palace side can expect to stay in and around the relegation zone for the near future despite finally getting out of the drop zone following a dramatic 2-1 victory over Watford at Selhurst Park, writes Conor O’Sullivan.

Late goals from substitutes Bakary Sako and James McArthur gave Palace a precious victory following the disappointing 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth in which Christian Benteke missed a late penalty when he took over the spot-kick duties from assigned taker Luka Milivojevic.

Hodgson said: “The most pleasing transformation is the way the team are trying to play, the way the team are working so hard to get results wherever they can. But there’s a long way to go. For a good period of time going forward, we’re going to be in or around that relegation zone. One week we’ll be in it, another we’ll be out of it. I’ll just keep pushing my message, not just to the fans but the players: each game is an opportunity, a potential banana skin or the opposite – whatever it is… If we can at least continue to show the fight… it would be disappointing to find ourselves in the zone and not fighting as hard as we are now to get out.

“I can’t explain it. I’m just happy about it. It wasn’t one of our better performances in terms of the quality of our play, but we’ve played well home and away and not always claimed the three points. I’d rather have three points irrespective of the performance than good performances which don’t give us the points. I commend the players’ determination and resilience, to keep going and weather some unfortunate moments during the game.”

“I don’t take credit for the substitutions coming off. But when you have players like James McArthur and Bakary Sako on the bench, it’s not a dangerous decision to make. If they score the goals, it makes you a genius.

“It’s harsh to say ‘not at the races’. Watford were the better team, but they are a good team. They’ve had a very good start to the season, and some very good results away from home. They’re very athletic, and leading 1-0 after three minutes. I’d rather say, yes, we weren’t anywhere near as good as we’d like to be, but I’d give Watford credit for that.

“It was (some turnaround). It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in the game, sometimes… matches have their own story. What makes them exciting is that no one can say what the score will be before the game. Because teams are fit and do fight until the end, have big squads with substitutes worthy of places in the team, we do see late drama.”

The Eagles have 14 points from 17 games, one clear of the relegation zone in 17th place although West Brom, West Ham and Swansea behind them have a game in hand.

Palace travel to Leicester on Saturday for the lunchtime kick-off but Hodgson urged caution despite the cause for optimism among Eagles fans.

He said: “It’s too early to say. When you say no one gave us a chance, we didn’t feel this was a hopeless case. Even after losing the first three games. From the moment I started working with the players, I found a group who were willing to buy into the type of work ethic and philosophy that I and my coaching staff has. That they’d work very hard for each other and do their level best to become a better team. They do work hard at training. They do concentrate and focus. They are interested in trying to play as a team, which makes your job as a coach very easy. They’re saying to you: give us some guidance as to how you want the instruments to play, we’ll become an orchestra.

“It helps, but he’d have liked to have scored a goal or been able to do something a bit spectacular during the course of the game. It wasn’t easy for him. Their three centre-backs were tight markers. The thing that impressed me with him is that he kept going, never hid and did something quite incredible in the last minute, chasing that ball down back to Gomes and forced him into a poor kick out of play, which effectively killed the game for us. When you’re a coach, those kind of little moments mean a lot. It gives you a bit of pleasure.

“My memory is very selective… there were lots of moments with Fulham. Juventus when we were dead and buried, down and out, and also Danny Murphy’s winner against Portsmouth. The players are very happy at the moment. As down as they were on Saturday, seeing two points disappear, today it’s the opposite. Sadness to euphoria. But they’ve got to settle down now and, on Thursday, we have to get back to work because we have Leicester and Swansea away now. We need to take something from those games as well.

“Fosu-Mensah felt his hamstring at half-time. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow or Thursday to see the extent of the injury. Luckily Martin Kelly is fit, and Joel Ward… maybe not for the weekend, but he’s not far off.”