Pardew defends Jedinak over Sakho elbow

Crystal Palace’s Mile Jedinak may face ramifications for an elbow on Diafra Sakho, but the midfielder has the support of boss Alan Pardew.

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew insists there was no malicious intent from midfielder Mile Jedinak when he caught West Ham striker Diafra Sakho with his elbow.

Palace’s 3-1 victory in Saturday’s Premier League clash at Upton Park was marred slightly by Jedinak’s clash with Sakho.

The Australia international avoided on-field punishment, but the incident has been largely condemned by pundits and it remains to be seen if the Football Association (FA) will take retrospective action.

Pardew, who also saw striker Glenn Murray sent off after scoring twice, has defended his captain and hopes the FA will show leniency.

“I’ve seen the incident and there’s no doubt he’s gone too aggressively to put the ball into the stand to buy us a little bit of time and his elbow is high,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s anything malicious in it and I do hope that the authorities look kindly on it.

“His performance was phenomenal. He won almost every header in midfield and anyone who knows him, knows he hasn’t got nastiness in him.

“He’s terrific and it’s a shame the two incidents are probably going to grab some headlines with Glenn [Murray] getting sent off and the Mile incident because we want a little bit more than that.”