Hodgson: Draw was a fair result

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson felt a draw was the fair result at the Amex this evening.
Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)
Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)

There was little goalmouth action in a tense encounter between arch rivals Brighton and Palace as the game finished 0-0.

Albion keeper Mathew Ryan made a superb double save early on, while Glenn Murray went closest to a winner for Brighton but had a header cleared off the line late on.

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It was the first meeting between the sides for more than four years and Hodgson said: "I'm satisfied with it, it was probably a fair result. Both sides had their moments in the game and I'm particularly pleased we kept a clean sheet as we haven't had too many of those, so it's a step in the right direction against a team that are particularly strong from set plays and corners.

"But I think we've got more in our locker. We showed it in patches and it was a bit disappointing we couldn't extend those patches in the game because we had moments in the final third where we were a correct pass or a correct decision away from giving us a goal chance.

"But it's a derby game, it's away from home and follows on a good victory for us on Saturday. It was important to come here and not lose the game so we could keep that little bit of momentum we feel we're building up going.

"It's an extra point along the way and I think it was the correct result."

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Hodgson felt players didn't take as many risks as normal because of the fear of making a mistake in a derby game.

He said: "Expectations from both sets of fans are very high, players feel under pressure and when you get that sort of pressure, the chances that you would take risks and throw caution to the wind diminish because you're so frightened you're going to be the one that costs your team a valuable point by making a silly mistake.

"It was just one of those games where both teams were quite strong defensively and both teams were very determined."