‘We became weaker’ – Roy Hodgson slams impact from substitutes in Crystal Palace’s defeat against Spurs

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has slammed the impact of the youngsters he substituted on during their 2-1 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Friday evening.

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi was introduced when the Eagles were 1-0 down, replacing Jeffrey Schlupp in the 60th minute. 

Matheus Franca, 19, who was playing his second Premier League match since signing from Flamengo in the summer, came on in the 79th minute for Jefferson Lerma.

Naouirou Ahamada – yet to make a Premier League start for the Eagles – also came on in the 70th minute for Will Hughes.

Jordan Ayew scored in second-half added time, but the South Londoners were unable to stop their second Premier League defeat in a row,

When asked about the disappointment he felt after the 4-0 defeat at Newcastle, and whether he had a different feeling following the loss to Spurs, Hodgson said: “If the game had ended with us continuing as we had done in the first half and continued giving the same performance and coming away with a result in the game or even a draw, I would be sitting here really pleased with with what I had seen.

“There was no disappointment today. Maybe the young substitutes, who we like to think we can believe in and help us to a different level, didn’t show that. They didn’t do anything for us at all, really. 

“We became much weaker when I made the substitutions.

“But unfortunately, sometimes when a game is drifting away from you at 2-0, one is tempted to do that. Partly because we need to see those players as well – we need to see if they really are going to be able to help us out.

“We didn’t get any help today, but we got a lot of help from the first group of players in the first half – I thought they were very good.”

PICTURE: ROB AVIS