Players’ attitude great after Swansea loss, says Palace coach Keith Millen

Crystal Palace assistant manager Keith Millen has praised the players’ attitude in training after their dramatic 5-4 loss to Swansea City.

Palace conceded two goals in added time after overturning a 3-1 deficit as they slumped to their sixth straight Premier League defeat last weekend.

They also lost striker Connor Wickham to a serious knee injury, which is likely to rule him out for the rest of the season.

Palace are hoping to break their losing run against Southampton at Selhurst Park on Saturday, but Millen feels the Eagles players have not let the poor run of form affect the atmosphere in training.

Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

“I’ve got to be honest and say the lads have trained really, really well this week,” he said.

“That is pleasing and hopefully that helps for this weekend and going forward.

“I have been in training grounds when you just know their heads have gone or they have lost that real belief.

“They certainly haven’t done that here.”

Millen added that, at times, it had been “hard to watch” the defending from the sidelines, as a former centre-back himself.

“It has been hard to watch our defence as an ex-defender,” he said. “You pride yourself on the organisation and the preparation, so it hurts all of us when we’re conceding goals.”