Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has resigned himself to accepting criticism for an eight-match winless run he suggested does not accurately reflect his side's performances.
The former England manager is under mounting pressure to turn things around in south London, with many pointing to Steve Cooper as a viable and available replacement following his sacking by Nottingham Forest before Christmas.
Some have even suggested another bad result from Saturday’s meeting with Brentford – the only Premier League team in poorer form over the last six matches – might even force chairman Steve Parish into an imminent change.
Hodgson said: "It’s a bit of a deja-vu situation for me at the moment, because after the games I find it hard to really accept too much criticism of the team’s performances, but on the other hand I’m talking to people whose judgement has to be from the result backwards, and the results have been poor.
"So until such time as we can get some better results I would have to accept that [criticism], but I would be more concerned if the team was playing badly, and more concerned if we didn’t have the [Michael] Olises and the Eberechi Ezes to come back and help us out of this situation."
Palace have not won since beating Burnley 2-0 on 4 November, and their last – and only – league win at home came back at the start of September against Wolves, leaving them in 15th place and just three points clear of third-bottom Luton, who have a game in hand.
Hodgson’s side are slowly emerging from an injury crisis that has resulted in arguably his two most influential attacking threats, Olise and Eze, start just two of the Eagles’ 19 top-flight matches together due to their respective issues.
The duo’s second opportunity came on Wednesday night at Chelsea where Palace edged the Blues in chances and looked headed for a 1-1 draw at worst before Eze conceded what turned out to be the match-winning penalty.
That provoked his manager into another poke at VAR, for which Hodgson has largely reserved his most pointed criticism of late.
Still, there have been multiple flashes of what Hodgson’s men are capable of, and a near-equal number of promising encounters dashed by late reversals of fortune.
Palace were leading Liverpool 1-0 until Jordan Ayew was sent off with a second yellow in and the Reds staged a comeback in the last quarter-hour, while Danny Welbeck consigned a fifth straight Palace-Brighton encounter at Selhurst Park to a 1-1 draw with an 82nd-minute equaliser after Ayew had netted a first-half stoppage-time opener.
The Eagles did manage to draw 2-2 with Manchester City thanks to Olise’s late heroics, and he was the brightest again at Stamford Bridge.
Hodgson is convinced "there are goals in the team", particularly with a healthy Eze and Olise featuring, but cautioned: "Let’s be fair. There is a gap in the Premier League, there is a difference between the Man Citys and the Liverpools and the Chelseas and the Brightons.
"They are the ones who are supposed to be up there in Europe. We still live in a situation at the club where avoiding relegation has got to be a main concern. I think we can do better than that, but it is a different level."
