Crystal Palace Fan View: Swansea are there for the taking and three points are a must

Just a few short weeks ago, it was Crystal Palace rooted to the bottom of the table, searching for the next win. Our fate, in my opinion, rested on our performance in the last eight games. Could we pick up enough points to claw ourselves free of the relegation zone and give us a firm foundation on which to build the second half of our season? The answer to that question has been a resounding ‘yes’.

Now Swansea face a similar scenario to the one which Crystal Palace found themselves in at the start of the season – managerless, searching for a win and stone dead last. For them, we’re a prime target but on Saturday we must ensure that we show no mercy and add to Swansea’s misery.

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Our game against Leicester was the culmination of everything we’ve seen, albeit in spits and spats, since Roy Hodgson joined the club. We were sound at the back, a compliment barely heard when Sakho is out the team, but certainly deserved here and we were clinical going forward. Christian Benteke played a vital role in both goals and getting back on the scoresheet is no bad thing, even if he does miss out on Saturday.

We must replicate that performance in Swansea on Saturday. They have capable players, but they’re players who have become accustomed to losing this season. We all saw the effect that had on our own players, mistakes breed mistakes, vulnerability breeds more vulnerability and it is up to us to pounce on that.

It would be so ‘Palace-like’ to beat a Leicester side who were flying and then follow it up with an embarrassing performance against a newly-managerless, bottom-of-the-table Swansea side. I’m still not ruling it out, but somehow I feel less worried with Roy Hodgson at the helm.

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Christian Benteke’s suspension also complicates things, although I won’t go as far as to say it’s a disadvantage. He has turned in good performances in the last couple of games, but the form of Bakary Sako and the success Townsend and Zaha had earlier in the season means this isn’t quite the end of the world.

I said it a few weeks ago actually, Bakary Sako has an important role to play, at least until January. Sako changed the game against Watford with his directness and energy and the few times we’ve seen him this season he’s put in a shift, he’s tried to make things happen. Connor Wickham remains sidelined through injury, which means Benteke remains our only traditional option in attack. His absence this weekend means Bakary Sako could get his chance to lead the line.

At the start of the season, that would have sounded all rather hopeless. Now? I hope he continues to prove us all wrong.