Hawthorns win is a big statement – Allardyce

Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce said his side’s back-to-back Premier League victories sent out a message to their relegation rivals after they moved out of the drop zone with a 2-0 win at West Brom.

Second-half goals from Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend earned the Eagles a crucial three points at The Hawthorns and followed a 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Middlesbrough last time out.

Allardyce believes the win over the Baggies tops the Boro performance and is targeting Palace to be the best of the Premier League’s bottom seven teams.

“This is a much bigger win than last weekend against Middlesbrough because to put back-to-back wins together here against West Brom at The Hawthorns is a big statement,” he said.

“It gives the players the confidence to push on and get out of the position we’re in. It was a quality performance and we deserved the three points.

“In terms of catching up on games and points, back-to-back wins makes such a big difference. We’re working in that bottom seven league and trying to win that.

“We did the basics so well and the quality of both goals topped it. West Brom barely had a shot on goal.”

Allardyce’s opposite number Tony Pulis refused to criticise his players, who have already amassed 40 this season, but he admitted his forward players failed to perform against his former club Palace.

Pulis told BBC West Midlands Sport: “We were tepid right from the first minute. I don’t think we did anything going forward. We had good possession and made nothing of it. We needed a spark and no-one gave us that spark.

“There’s no way in a million years I’m going to criticise these players after what they’ve done this season. They’ve trained well this week but not one of the forward players played anywhere near what they can.”

Looking ahead to his side’s next four fixtures, Pulis said: “We’ve got three tough away games and a home game against Arsenal; that’s what the Premier League is like.”