Roy Hodgson says that a strong finish to the season would give his Palace side confidence, as they take on Southampton at St Mary’s this evening.
“Finishes and starts to the season are always very important,” he said in his pre-match interview. “You can’t deny or underestimate the importance of them. A lot depends on how the programme pans out.
“You can get a good start if you’re kindly dealt a programme or a bad start if you’re harshly dealt a programme. We have a tough finish: Arsenal, Aston Villa and Liverpool. But we have the players: if we need substitutes to go on and change the game, we’ve got them; if we need replacements for injuries we have them.