Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira: Having significant possession against Liverpool was always going to be challenging

Patrick Vieira reckoned that Crystal Palace’s defeat against Liverpool in Singapore will only make them better.

The Eagles lost 2-0 with goals from Jordan Henderson and Mohammed Salah handing Jurgen Klopp’s side victory.

The South London club only had 32 per cent possession.

Vieira said: “It’s not possible for us to have the possession or have it as much as we would like to, because of the quality of the team.

“We tried and at times we managed to do something interesting but we struggled to get into their box on a couple of situations we had.

“But again, that is the team – that in the last five-six years are fighting to win the Champions League and the Premier League so we knew how challenging it was going to be.

“I’m really pleased because that is the game that can make us make a step forward. We are progressing and we are getting better physically.

“Technically we still have things to work on but we are making steps forward.

“We are never happy to concede goals in football matches but you have to look at the quality of the Liverpool squad and they are very difficult to defend.

“We are not surprised at all, we knew how tough and challenging the game would be and again we have to look at our side and I was really pleased because physically it was really demanding.

“Overall, it’s a step forward for us regarding where we want to be when the first game of the season comes.

“[The conditions] were challenging of course but again it’s all about the experience so you get tired, you get dizzy but that allowed us to focus on concentrating on the tactical side.

“When you lose concentration, you concede situations and you concede goals and that kind of experience is very positive for us.”