Hodgson hopeful of turning the tide

Crystal Palace manager takes heart from the effort by his players. “At the moment we’re like the boxer who's being knocked down by superior opponents, but at least we're getting ourselves up off the canvass and going again,” he says.

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson is confident he has seen enough from his beleaguered side and that their fortunes will soon improve.

The Eagles lost their seventh consecutive Premier League game on Saturday as they succumbed to a 4-0 defeat against Manchester United.

Hodgson's side have yet to score this season and now have a two-week break before they welcome Chelsea to Selhurst Park.

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The former England manager, however, is relishing the opportunity to spend some time on the training pitch with his new players and instill some positive habits in them, some of which he saw evidence of in the defeat at Old Trafford.

"A goal down after three minutes was the worst possible scenario, but there were moments in today's game where I can take a lot of encouragement," he said.

"After we went 3-0 down you ask your players: 'can you show me some character, can you show me some resilience, and can you show me some fighting spirit?' which indeed they did.

"We can take some things from this game that weren't too bad in my opinion.

"At the moment we're like the boxer who's being knocked down by superior opponents, but at least we're getting ourselves up off the canvass and going again."

Hodgson, who took over after Frank de Boer was sacked after just four games, added: "The messages being put across are being grasped by the players. We now have Chelsea and it doesn't get any easier.

"The past three weeks' work has been good but this break will be good to get more work done.

"I hope my enjoyment and passion for the game will spread over to the players."