Roy Hodgson 'Satisfied With Point' as Eagles Claim First Clean Sheet of the Season

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has expressed his satisfaction with a point from Tuesday night's hotly contested derby fixture against Brighton, although felt his side could have capitalised on the few opportunities they had against Chris Hughton's men. 

Palace would have moved off the foot of the table with a win against their fierce rivals, albeit maybe temporarily as Swansea play on Tuesday night, although they will be glad to record their first clean sheet of the season as well as their first away point of this campaign. 

Speaking to the club's official website, Hodgson said: "Both sides had their moments in the game, but I’m particularly pleased that we kept a clean sheet as we haven’t had many of those. That is a step in the right direction.

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“Personally, I think it’s a correct result. 0-0's are never too popular. We knew what we had to do to make certain that we didn’t go away empty handed. 

"We defended well and with the firepower we think we have in that front portion of our team, I think we could have done more. The opportunities were there - we got ourselves into the positions but didn’t capitalise upon them. To be fair, Brighton defended well too. So 0-0 is a fairly logical outcome.

“I think it was one of those games – where both sides were quite strong defensively, and both were very determined. But the game was played in a fair way. It was competitive that’s for sure – but no nasty challenges.”

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“It follows a good victory for us on Saturday (v Stoke City), but it was important to come here and not lose so we keep the momentum we’re building up going.”

Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha both had excellent opportunities to open the scoring at the Amex, only to find Seagulls stopper Matty Ryan in superb form to pull off a double save. 

Palace old boy Glenn Murray may have haunted his former side but for Andros Townsend's goal line clearance from the Albion forward's header. 

Palace travel to West Brom this Saturday where they may come up against another old boy in the form of Alan Pardew, who is set to be announced as the Baggies manager on Wednesday.