Ray Lewington’s half-time blast helped Crystal Palace go through the gears against Leicester City

Roy Hodgson has revealed it took a half-time blast from Ray Lewington to spark some life into Crystal Palace in today’s 1-1 draw against Leicester City.

The Eagles could have been behind by the interval with the Foxes dominating possession and also missing a penalty – Kelechi Iheanacho’s poor effort saved by Vicente Guaita.

Wilfried Zaha volleyed the hosts ahead with a ferocious finish from an Andros Townsend cross just before the hour mark.

But Harvey Barnes levelled things up in the closing stages.

Hodgson – asked if it was a more positive performance after conceding 10 goals in the previous two games – told Amazon Prime: “Well it certainly was second half. But it almost cost my assistant manager Ray Lewington a heart attack at half-time in order to produce that inspiration and energy that we found in the second half.

“Ray, like myself, we couldn’t quite believe what we were seeing in the first half in some ways. We know we are so much better than that performance was suggesting. They were very aggressive and got around the ball very well. They made life very difficult for us. We were occupying the right positions but not really having any real effect on their team.

“Luckily Ray came to life both at half time and in the second half and his constant shouting definitely did us a favour and the players definitely responded much, much better in the second half.

“The whole performance from the team stepped up more than one gear. But it only stepped up to really the gear we expect and know they have – and the football we know the team can play. We are not a bad team.

“The second half pleased me very much. That’s what Crystal Palace have been over the last three-and-a-half-years. That’s what we want to be. We pressurised the ball so much better and looked quite dangerous when we were going forward. Unfortunately we don’t get the full number of points, simply because Barnes scores with a wonderful strike.

“Today was important for us to put a stop to a bad run. The last two games have been very painful and hurt us quite deeply. Today was good because it gets us feeling much better about ourselves and once again believing we have the quality and organisation required to stay in the league. Because this year, more than ever, staying in the league is not going to be easy and there are plenty of us in and around a situation where we could find ourselves quite quickly dragged into a relegation battle and that’s something that hasn’t happened so far this season – and we don’t want it to happen either.”