Delaney: Palace can’t rest on laurels because of Big Sam appointment

With his impeccable record for avoiding the drop, Sam Allardyce’s appointment as Crystal Palace manager had many people assuming the Eagles would automatically steer clear of relegation.

But Damien Delaney says the squad can’t afford to rest on their laurels as they look to haul themselves away from danger.

Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League in his entire management career, helping clubs such as Bolton, Blackburn, West Ham and Sunderland consistently maintain their top-flight status.

Palace are currently 17th in the table, just one point and one place above the drop zone, and have earned just one point in three matches since the 62-year-old took charge.

They suffered a disheartening 2-1 home defeat to hapless Swansea last time out and Delaney admits they must do better to survive.

“We’re way below where we should be, but we can’t make excuses. We can’t dress it up,” explained the defender.

“He [Allardyce] has got a tremendous track record, but we can’t rely on that. He’s not going to make us into anything without tremendous hard work on the training ground.

“There’s no point blaming other people, it’s on our shoulders now. We’ve got to get back to the training ground, get back to work.”