Former Everton midfielder Leon Osman believes Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce will need his players to work harder if they are to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season.

Allardyce replaced Alan Pardew in the Selhurst Park hot seat just before Christmas, but his arrival didn’t initially bring an improvement in results, with Palace winning only one his first eight league games in charge.

Back-to-back victories since then against Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion have raised hopes, however, as they lifted the Eagles out of the relegation zone.

They aren’t out of the woods yet, with Hull City taking advantage of their inactivity last weekend by defeating Swansea City 2-1 to leave Allardyce’s side just one point clear of the bottom three.

Allardyce has some gifted players at his disposal, such as Wilfried Zaha, Andros Townsend and Christian Benteke, but Osman believes talent alone won’t be enough to keep them up.

Osman said: “I think as Sam went into the Crystal Palace dressing room he’s gone and rubbed his hands together, thinking ‘this is brilliant, I’ve never joined a club so far at the bottom with such talent.’

“But if you can’t get that talent to work as hard as it needs to and you can’t get that talent to go out on to the pitch and perform then you’re going to be in trouble.

“The hard working teams will always out-battle you.”

Slaven Bilic expects the return of striker Andre Ayew to be a big boost for the Hammers after suffering a slump in form which has left them without a league win since they beat Southampton 3-1 in early February.

Ayew’s season has been disrupted thus far by injury and international commitments in the AFCON Cup but the Ghanaian’s season has begun to fire after goals in successive away games for the Hammers.

And with champions Leicester City visiting London Stadium this weekend, Bilic knows Ayew’s attacking threat will be crucial to their cause.

(Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

“Andre had a couple of major things which happened to him, which affected his season so far,” said Bilic.

“The first was that he had a massive injury in the first game of the season, then when he came back it was a little bit too early, so he was searching for fitness and form.

“Then he went to the Africa Cup of Nations and now he looks really good. That’s the reason we bought him – he has that sense to be in the right place at the right time.

“He scored like that against Swansea, he scored like that against Watford and he scored a similar kind of goal again on Saturday.

“That’s a big quality for the strikers to be in a good position, so now he’s back in good shape and of course we expect him to improve us.”

Mark Hughes may be looking to lower the average age of his Stoke City squad this summer, but Charlie Adam is one over-30s star who is desperate to extend his stay.

The Scottish midfielder joined Stoke five years ago from Liverpool, but his impact has not been as great as initially expected – with a first-team place hard to come by under Mark Hughes.

Stoke look set for another mid-table finish in the Premier League this season, but the club has made little progress this year, and Hughes is expected to sell many of his current squad.

Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

But Adam has often impressed when called upon, with his wand of a left foot a regular source of goals and assists for Hughes from the bench.

And now the 31-year-old is eyeing up a new deal at Stoke, even though Hughes has publicly declared his aim is to lower the average age of his squad.

“I’m looking to extend as soon as possible. This is a terrific club and I’ve had a great few years here,” he said.

“It’s constantly evolving, with better and better players being brought in all the time. That can make it harder to get a game, right enough, but I enjoy that sort of challenge.”

Their first-leg clash with Monaco may have been an eight-goal extravaganza, but Manchester City stopper Willy Caballero insists his side will not curb their attacking intent in their attempt to progress in the Champions League.

Pep Guardiola’s side came back from both 2-1 and 3-2 down at the Etihad Stadium a fortnight ago to beat the French side 5-3 and take a two-goal advantage into this week’s decider.

With a place in the Champions League semi-finals on the line, many bosses would be tempted to shut up shop at the Stade Louis II and protect their lead, but Argentine shot-stopper Caballero believes that is not the best way to go about it.

“We have to play in a very professional way, trying to control the game and showing our experience,” he said.

“Keeping our style will be very important if we want to be in the next round. We are always focused on our attack and scoring goals. This is Pep’s main idea.

“His way of understanding football is very clear and we try to develop this idea on the pitch.

“We have to attack in the same way that we did here at the Etihad and if we do we’ll create chances and score goals. But the most important thing is to defend better than we did in the first leg.

“We have a two-goal difference from the home game, but we should not be overconfident. We have to think about what happened to PSG against Barcelona and think that nothing is done yet.”

Son Heung-min scored his first Tottenham hat-trick on Sunday against Millwall and the South Korean front man hopes it is the first of many.

Spurs are into the FA Cup semi-finals after a 6-0 thumping of Millwall and currently sit second in the Premier League table as the season run-in approaches.

And Son – nicknamed Sonny by all at the club – is finding his best form when it counts the most – although he did have Lady Luck on his side after his third goal squirmed under keeper Tom King.

“It’s really difficult to score a hat-trick,” he said.

“I will put it (the match ball) in my bedroom and that will motivate me every game to score and to try and score a hat-trick – this afternoon was a lucky one for me.

(Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

“I thought it was my last chance and I wanted to shoot properly, my touch wasn’t great but I think this was my day, the goalkeeper made a mistake and I got my hat-trick.

“I really wanted to score one more goal one because I wanted my first hat-trick here, I was really happy when the ball went over the line, I was really happy to win this game as well. We deserved to go into the next round.”

Everton boss Ronald Koeman has moved Ross Barkley further up the pitch in recent weeks and claims the midfielder is now shining brighter than ever.

As opposed to a box-to-box engine-roomer, Koeman is now employing the 23-year-old just off lone striker Romelu Lukaku, giving his more freedom to impact the game.

And the move is paying dividends as Barkley has racked up a goal and five assists in his last eight appearance, impressing once again the 3-0 trouncing of West Brom at the weekend.

Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

“Ross is changing his style a little bit,” admitted Koeman. “I don’t need Ross on the halfway line, having eight touches of the ball – we have defenders and midfield players for those areas.

“We need Ross between the lines and close to the opposition’s box, having shots and providing assists. That is some of the boy’s biggest qualities.

“He is so strong, so good on the ball, can shoot off his left or right foot, he’s clever and can see things on the pitch.

“You look at the third goal [against West Brom], he tried to dribble but saw Romelu at the far post and provided the assist. That is what we need in our offensive game – we need players like Ross.

“He has a slightly different position in the team now, a little bit more free with three midfielders behind him.

“He’s a fantastic player – he showed that with his assist [against West Brom]. He was outstanding.”

Liverpool midfielder Emre Can believes his best form is ahead of him after the Germany international scored his side’s winner in their 2-1 victory over Burnley on Sunday.

Can had been finding life difficult in the holding midfield role in the absence of injured club captain Jordan Henderson, as the Clarets forced Liverpool to come from behind at Anfield.

But his confidence visibly grew after he found the bottom corner from 25 yards with an hour gone to help the Reds consolidate their place in the Premier League’s top four.

Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

The 23-year-old is hoping it will prove to be a turning point, from a personal point of view, saying: “I know I had a very tough period, I had not too much confidence in the last few weeks and it was not my best performance.

“But I had the feeling I would come back, I had the feeling that I was getting strong again, and I know what I am able to do when I am fit, when I’m pain-free.

“It was a step forward and I have to keep it up. I had problems with my calf and I didn’t want to [have] a break and the manager didn’t want it, I wanted to help my team.

“Maybe it didn’t help the team too much and myself as well but I’m very happy today, it was good, I felt good again, and that’s the most important [thing].”

Slaven Bilic and West Ham have been warned that an improvement must be seen in both performances and results by co-chairman David Sullivan.

The Hammers went down to a 3-2 defeat to struggling Bournemouth on Saturday, with Josh King scoring a hat-trick while the hosts also spurned two penalties at the Vitality Stadium.

That contributed to a second successive Premier League defeat for the East Londoners, also a fourth game without a win to threaten what had, up to now, looked like progressing into a decent season.

Bilic’s side currently sit 11th, but with just goal difference separating them from Southampton and a top-half place, Sullivan has issued a rallying cry to his side to buck up their ideas and deliver performances he knows they are capable of.

(Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)

“I was very disappointed and frustrated with the manner of our defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday,’ he said.

“We went down there determined to bounce back from the Chelsea game, but we didn’t play as well as we know we can.

“Slaven, the players and the staff all know we have to do better.

“We have conceded too many goals early in halves in recent games and, while we’ve managed to get ourselves back into games like the ones at Southampton and Watford and at home to West Brom, there will be matches where we cannot equalise. That situation cannot go on.

“I am sure that Slaven, his backroom staff and the team were not happy with what happened and they will think about it a lot over the next few days.”

Yaya Toure believes a Champions League title with Manchester City would be the most impressive achievement of Pep Guardiola’s esteemed career.

The Citizens are set to face French side Monaco on Wednesday for a place in the last-eight, already boasting a 5-3 first-leg lead after a quite spectacular match at the Etihad Stadium last time out.

It’s a situation in which Guardiola already boasts a wealth of experience, two-time Champions League winner with Barcelona, also looking after the Bayern Munich side that missed out in last season’s semi-finals.

(Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

But for Toure, the best is still to come from the Spanish manager, with a chance of leading City to that particular piece of silverware for the first time – something which the Ivorian believes will be his biggest asset to date.

“I think this could be Pep’s biggest achievement,” said Toure. “It is his biggest test. But this guy likes challenges – and so do the players. So it is good.

“This team is so young. We already had good ­players, but now Pep brings in young players and that is so demanding for him.

“But it is starting to feel like something big is ­happening at City. The fans feel it, everyone feels it.
“We are getting a winning mentality in Europe and playing very well.

“When we play like we did against Monaco, we come close to the great teams like Real Madrid, ­Barcelona and Bayern. We cannot dream about anything yet because we still have a second leg to play.”

West Brom defender Jonny Evans believes the Baggies will relish getting their season back on track after a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Everton.

The defeat was Albion’s second on the spin after going down to Palace last week and Evans admits the squad has been jolted by a dip in standards after a stellar season thus far.

The Baggies will now prepare for Arsenal’s visit to the Hawthorns on Saturday as they look to break the 50-point mark having achieved 40 points so early, the mythical figure expected to guarantee Premier League survival.

And Evans believes the prospect of taking on another top-six side is just what his side needs at this stage.

(Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

“There’s a few tough games for us to come towards the end of the season, but that’s the Premier League for you,” he said.

“Sometimes the tough games can be the best games to play in.

“We want to go into them and express ourselves and hopefully get a better outcome than the one we got at Goodison Park.

“Our league position is nice but we have been disappointed with our last two performances.

“They haven’t been to the level that we have been used to this season.

“We were playing against a good team who are above us in the league and who are looking to break into the top six.”