Every word from Patrick Vieira’s post-Fulham press conference – Loan signings, red cards & experience in the Crystal Palace squad

Crystal Palace suffered a 3-0 defeat to Fulham on Boxing Day and had two players sent off during the 90 minutes.

Tyrick Mitchell was sent off in the 34th minute for a late challenge on right-back Kenny Tete.

James Tomkins was issued with a second yellow card midway through the second half after he blocked off Aleksandar Mitrovic as he chased the ball down.

The Eagles failed to register a shot on target.

Goals from Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Tim Ream and Aleksandar Mitrovic gave Marco Silva’s side all three points.

Here is every word from Patrick Vieira’s written post-match press conference at Selhurst Park:

Thoughts on the two red cards?

“I don’t have any opinion.

“I didn’t have any chance to look at it again, so I won’t make any comment.

“I don’t have any comment to make.”

How was Mitchell after that? Looked distraught.

“I didn’t have to chance to see Tyrick or Tonks. I haven’t spoken with them yet.”

Say all the time your team needs experience. Feel as though that was a performance which shows it needs help in January?

“I have always known what the team needs. That game today doesn’t take away the thought I always had.”

Thoughts on the game overall? The system and players seemed not to work from the first minute.

“From the first minute, Fulham were the better team,” admitted Vieira.

“There were too many aspects where we were not present. In the end, we got what we deserved.

“We didn’t do anything today to get something from that game.”

Steve Parish came out before the game and said loan signings were going to be the focus of January. Would you agree that after that performance, maybe not?

“You would have to ask him that question.”

Put your finger on why your team was so flat today?

“It’s really difficult to understand. It’s one of the frustrations that I have.

“I have been really pleased with what I have seen during the last couple of weeks in training, and I was expecting a better performance from the team.

“It shows the quality of the Premier League. When you look at Fulham, and you look at the team and the quality they have, we still have a lot of work to do to compete. 

“Today, we didn’t compete at all.”

Were you your own worst enemies today? The Mitchell incident killed you, didn’t it?

“The two red cards, and even the first one, didn’t help us. But outside of those two situations, it was more the performance from the first minute that let us down.”