Tuesday 5 December 2017 09:09, UK
Roy Hodgson says Crystal Palace have "shot themselves in the foot" after their poor start to the season and are now "playing catch up".
Palace became the first team in 129 years of the Football League to lose their first seven matches without scoring, leaving them bottom without a point.
It was a run which saw Frank de Boer sacked after only four league games and replaced by Hodgson who has since taken 10 points from his 11 games in charge, including a win against champions Chelsea.
Palace are currently 18th, three points from safety and on a four-game unbeaten run, and Hodgson is now ruing the Eagles' woeful start to the campaign.
The 70-year-old told Sky Sports News at the unveiling of Palace's stadium plans: "If we'd have got the same number of points (10) from the first seven games, we'd have been middle of the table which at the moment would be an area we'd be more than comfortable to be in.
"But we are playing catch up. We have shot ourselves in the foot. When you take no points from seven games, you don't even score a goal and you've got a minus 15 goal difference, what you're saying is, we've cut our season down by a fifth and now you've got to work really hard in the other 80 per cent of the season left to get those points back somehow.
"I think we're clawing away, we're working very hard and I can't ask any more of what I'm getting from the players, they're giving their absolute all to try and get points wherever we can and if we can keep that up and guarantee me those performances for the next 23 games, I will be feeling quite confident."
Only Arsenal brought in fewer players than Palace in the summer and Hodgson now hopes the club can back him in the January transfer window.
When asked about possible transfer activity, Hodgson said: "Yes, of course. The more money they can give me to spend the happier I shall be because you would hope the more money you have the better the quality the player you'll have. But that's not an exact science.
"If ever you want a science where risk is at the highest possible level it's spending money on transfers to buy football players and pay them wages and hoping that you're going to see scientifically that you got value for your money."
