Roy Hodgson believes Jordan Ayew justified his selection with his goal in the 2-0 win at Wolves.

Ayew scored his first goal for the club in 13 appearances on 83 minutes, before captain Luka Milivojevic slotted a penalty deep in to injury time to make sure of the points.

Hodgson praised the 27-year-old attacker following the match that keeps them in 14th, six-points clear of the relegation zone.

“If anyone deserved that goal tonight, it was him, and he took it extremely well,” said the Palace manager.

“He did a lot of good work tonight before the goal. I thought his defending and his stretching of the defence, and his hold up play when we got the ball up to him.

“When you are a forward you do need goals, if people are really going to regard you as a good forward, and he has had to wait for that goal.”

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Ayew will be hoping his strike will kick-start a run of games for the Ghanaian who has seen minutes limited as Hodgson has often opted for Wilfried Zaha or Andros Townsend to lead the line.

“We have had difficult games. The games against Manchester City and Chelsea, you sometimes modify your line up, or system at times.

“Occasionally, he gets sacrificed in those moments when I decide it will be Wilf and Andros up the front, but it was good to bring him back in the team tonight and it was good to see Wilf and Andros do so well in the wide positions.”

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Hodgson also praised his side as a whole for bouncing back from their 1-0 defeat by Chelsea three days earlier, especially to a side who were coming off an impressive 3-1 win over Tottenham.

“To come here against a team with such confidence and doing so well in the league, to play the way we did and to win the game, in my opinion, deservedly, I have got to be very satisfied.”

Palace welcome Grimsby in the FA Cup this Saturday.