Palace looking at moving up EPL table

Dec 27, 2016 - 1:10 PM Martin Kelly has revealed Sam Allardyce has won over Crystal Palace's squad to the extent that avoiding relegation is no longer the limit of their ambitions.

Allardyce was on Friday appointed as Alan Pardew's successor and oversaw his first game as manager of 17th-placed Palace in Monday's 1-1 draw at Watford.

They produced an improved performance until, during the second half, appearing to lose confidence and conceding the penalty from which Troy Deeney scored Watford's equalising goal, but the manager remained adamant he saw numerous positives from his team.

Defender Kelly's position is expected to come under threat in January with Palace likely to recruit a new fullback to replace the injured Pape Souare.

But discussing the impact Allardyce has already made in his early days at the club, the 26-year-old said: "Sam brings his experience and we're all on board with his philosophy.

"He hasn't had long to work with us; we just had a quick turnaround on Christmas Eve and we've played early doors on Boxing Day.

"It's exciting to have him as our manager and we just hope we can all come together to give him the results that he and the fans want moving forward as a club.

"For us, we have to turn up with a game plan, so come a few months' time we're in a better position.

"We're talking about pushing on in the league instead of looking down the bottom.

"Football is crazy nowadays with the changeover of managers. We all have the greatest respect for Alan and what he had done with us, the players, and his time at the club and what he did as a player."

Source: AAP