Roy Hodgson says he is in no doubt he will keep Crystal Palace in the Premier League and was encouraged by what he saw in their defeat to Burnley on Sunday.

Palace sit bottom of the Premier League after four defeats from their opening four games, but the former England boss is confident they will still be a Premier League club come May.

He said today: “I believe the team will stay up, absolutely. I wouldn’t have dreamt of taking the job if I did not believe that the team could stay up and that I did not believe that I and my coaching staff would be the right people to do that.

“I was heartened by what I saw on the television in the Burnley last week. I saw a team which I thought dominated the game, defended well. So, the least I can hope for is that we can recreate that tomorrow.”

The Eagles host Southampton in tomorrow’s lunchtime kick-off and Hogdson knows the importance of the game with fixtures against Manchester United, City and Chelsea to come.

“What one can do about it, other than prepare the team as best one can, to give the team confidence and as much belief as you can give them to go out and do the job. That’s what a football manager can do, especially one that has only been there two or three days.

“I certainly get the feeling that there is no doubt in the players’ minds the importance of this game and how much it would be a good game to win and it is up to them now, these 11 who are selected to show why they are on the field of play.

“It’s a 34-game season. We have had a bad start. We have handicapped ourselves by not taking any points in the first four games, but there are still 34 games to go.

“The one point I did make when I met them [the players] is our focus is on May, not the end of September. Leagues are not won at the end of September and teams are not relegated at the end of September.

“Once the chairman made it clear that he thought that we were the right people, for me, there had never been a doubt in my mind and as I say this could be a very good year with us still in the Premier League and the Crystal Palace fans happy, then that would be something that which will make me very happy.”