Joel Ward delivers verdict on Crystal Palace’s 2-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth
BY ANDREW MCSTEEN
The run without a Premier League win stretched to four games for Crystal Palace as they lost 2-0 to Bournemouth at Selhurst Park on Wednesday night.
A goal in each half was enough to keep the Eagles on just a solitary home win this season as they were booed off at the end of each 45 minutes by the home fans.
“First and foremost we are disappointed not to put some points on the board,” said captain Joel Ward to Premier League Productions after the loss.
“Did they pepper the goal? I don’t think so. But did we create as much as we wanted to create and play as well as we wanted to play? I don’t think so either.
“You go through periods in football when it’s like this, especially in the Premier League. The only people who can put that right is ourselves. We need to make sure that we are working as hard as we can do on the training pitch to get that momentum back into games.
“We know what we need to do,” added the 34-year-old. “Sometimes you go through these periods and we need to stick together and do better. That’s the first and foremost thing and in doing that the results will take care of themselves.
“Collectively, we need to continue to strive to raise the bar, and results are going to come. We’ve got the talent in the team, and we just need to continue to work towards putting everything together, and once that clicks, then we’ve shown what we can do in previous and in past years.
“We dust ourselves down. It’s frustrating, but we have to show our togetherness and keep moving forward.”
With just one win in their last eight Premier League games, the SE25 outfit now face the prospect of playing Liverpool on Saturday before an away fixture the following week at Manchester City.
And with those two tough games coming up and the form his side is in, Ward was optimistic about putting an end to his side’s dismal run.
“There are no easy games in the Premier League. When you’re coming up against those two teams in the next fixtures you know it’s never going to be easy,” said the former Portsmouth player.
“But the Premier League is the most watched league in the world because it’s the most competitive. We can go there or be here and get a result. We’ve done it before and we can do it again.”
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