Puncheon: Palace not getting carried away by turnaround
The long-anticipated ‘Sam Allardyce effect’ finally seems to be taking hold at Crystal Palace but midfielder Jason Puncheon is adamant the squad aren’t getting ahead of themselves.
When Allardyce was appointed just before Christmas, it was assumed Palace’s Premier League safety was guaranteed due to the manager’s superb record of never getting a team relegated from the top-flight.
Instead, the Eagles won just one of Big Sam’s first nine league matches in charge to drop into the relegation zone, with speculation rampant that his ill-fated tenure as England boss had negated his midas touch.
However, Palace have clinched back-to-back victories over Middlesbrough and West Brom in their last two matches and now lie 17th – still in a dogfight but in a much healthier position than three weeks ago.
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But Puncheon is not underestimating the importance of every single one of their remaining 11 games this season.
“Yes, I think the turnaround is on, but we are not going to get carried away,” he said.
“We have had two wins and six points, which is great, but we need to keep going and we still have 11 cup finals to play.
“We have all had some criticism and collectively, we look at ourselves and say we haven’t been good enough, which is why we are in the position we are.
“We are here for a reason and we are in this fight. Sometimes you can lose belief and confidence, but most importantly we have shown grit and determination, and if we keep doing that our ability will shine through.”
