Pardew hopes Benteke can fire Palace back to winning ways

Alan Pardew hopes Christian Benteke’s goals can propel Crystal Palace up the Premier League table after they fell to another 1-0 defeat.

Palace were beaten by a single goal at home to West Brom last week, and then again by the same scoreline at Tottenham on Saturday.

However, manager Pardew says there is renewed optimism following Benteke’s club-record arrival, and is expecting his side to improve in front of goal in the coming weeks.

“We were so unfortunate with that [late goal], but I can’t fault my players today – they gave me everything,” he told Sky Sports.

“We had a thrust about us today, a belief and, of course, that came from the way we’ve played and from Christian’s arrival.

“But it’s evident that in two games we haven’t scored. We’ve had chances and that’s an area that we’re trying to address.

“Hopefully, with Christian signing, that’s a good step towards it.”

Pardew thanked the Palace board for stumping up a reported £30million to sign Benteke from Liverpool.

“The board have been tremendously supportive in knowing that we’ve got to address the issue,” he continued. “We’re not scoring enough goals.

“It was evident at the back end of last year, and it’s evident in the first two games.

“People are talking about our run in this calendar year, but that’s what we’re addressing.”