Crystal Palace midfielder James McArthur says manager Frank de Boer is not forcing the team to play a particular system.

The Scotland international played in the Eagles' 2-0 defeat to Swansea City, and has now completed back-to-back games for the first time since a hamstring injury in pre-season.

He admitted the team were too cautious in the first half against Swansea and "should have been in their faces a lot more", but is insistent that the boss is not at fault.

When asked whether De Boer is instructing his team to be more patient in possession, McArthur told News Shopper: "No, not really. The manager is saying that it depends on what they do. If they come and press us, which they did, then to try and get it forward faster.

"So it's not like we're sitting here and saying, 'Oh the manager is telling us to play this type of total football'. He's not. He's trying to play the type of football that wins football matches.

"We've done that. We played some nice football sometimes, we've played it long sometimes, and we try and mix it up."

Palace look to be acclimatising to a new system after the departure of Sam Allardyce, and it has been suggested that De Boer wants the team to maintain a certain style of play.

However, McArthur is insistent that this is not the case.

He added: "We're obviously trying to dominate the ball more, but did you see we hit the ball long today? We've done that, so if the manager wanted us to play this total football then we wouldn't be doing that.

"The manager is doing whatever it takes to try and win football matches, and it's not a case of, 'Oh, it's his philosophy of playing football and he's going to stick to that all the way'.

"It's about whatever it takes to win football matches and he's prepared to do that."

The 29-year-old said he was "devastated" by the result, but feels the upcoming international break may help.

McArthur said: "Normally the break comes at a bad time for us, but maybe it's a good thing that the break's coming this time."