Ledley believes the Eagles can soar even higher

Joe Ledley insists Crystal Palace are going places and that you only need to look at their newest recruits to see exactly that.

Ledley arrived at Crystal Palace after being snapped up for a cut-price deal by then Eagles boss Tony Pulis back in 2014.

But since then the club have gone from strength to strength and this summer broke their record transfer signing to bring in striker Christian Benteke from Liverpool – something which Ledley believes shows that the Eagles have not stopped soaring just yet.

“He is a fantastic signing. That’s what you need to do as a club – go on to that next level,” Ledley said.

“Signing players like Christian and [Loic] Remy on loan, it shows how much this club has gone forward.

“The gaffer wants to change things up and hopefully we can see it happening. It always takes time, no matter where you are as a player or as a club.”

Ledley enjoyed a summer to remember as he was part of the Wales squad that reached the semi-final of Euro 2016, losing out to eventual winners Portugal.

But his involvement was up in the air after breaking his leg against Stoke in May, with the midfielder indebted to physio Sean Connelly for getting him fit in time after he was forced to sit out Crystal Palace’s FA Cup final defeat to Manchester United.

“You don’t want to miss any game as a footballer but I’ve been lucky enough to have played in the FA Cup final before,” said Ledley, who was part of the Cardiff side defeated by Portsmouth in 2008 FA Cup final.

“When you do miss one of the biggest competitions in English football you’re obviously gutted.

“It was way too early for me to get fit for that. I knew the next thing was to get fit for the Euros.

“Thankfully Sean [Connelly], the physio at Palace and with Wales, helped me dearly.

“I’ve worked with Sean since I was young at Cardiff. He knows my body pretty well. I trust him with what he wanted me to do. We worked very hard together. It was a lot of long days – but it had to be done. Determination and staying positive made me come through in the end.”