Pulis hails Palace unity

Crystal Palace boss Tony Pulis claims the togetherness of the club has proved decisive in their successful Premier League survival bid.

A second-half Mile Jedinak penalty at West Ham on Saturday was enough to seal a fifth straight win for Palace, preserving their top-flight status with three games to spare.

An accomplished attacking performance at Upton Park was complemented with the defensive resilience that Pulis became associated with during his time at Stoke City, but the 56-year old feels that such comparisons are unfair on his side.

He said: “This is a different team to the one I had at Stoke. We sat down and had a look at the strengths of the team and we worked out a system that we thought would suit them.

“You have to be strong and resilient but we’ve got great pace on the break and the two wide players were absolutely outstanding.”

Palace’s latest victory represents an extraordinary turnaround for a club who looked certain for the drop when the Welshman took charge back in November.

Yet sparkling recent performances have elevated Palace to the relative safety of mid-table, something that Pulis claims is down to the spirit shown by everyone at the club.

He added: “The big thing for me was the turnover in playing Everton on Wednesday night and not getting back until past two in the morning and then to try and get them recovered and ready to go.

“So I just said (to the players) ‘the effort and commitment you’ve put in was just wonderful’.

‘It’s a group, even the people who are not in the team have been wonderful and everybody’s bought into it, including the supporters, who have really been fabulous.

“You look at Selhurst Park and when we went the supporters were still getting behind the team so they have to take some credit too.”

However, despite sealing survival in the Premier League, Pulis insists his side will not rest on their laurels in the coming weeks, adding: “It’s important that we go into the last three games with the same attitude and the same approach and we know it’ll be tough.”