Roy Hodgson Insists He's 'Happy' With a Draw Despite Conceding Late Equaliser

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson had insisted he is satisfied with a draw after his side were pegged back by Swansea late on at the Liberty Stadium.

Despite Swansea having 63% of the possession, Palace looked the more threatening in front of goal throughout the game, and limited Swansea to no shots on target in the first half. Luka Milivojevic's penalty on the hour mark gave Palace a well deserved lead and it seemed as though there was no way back for the home side.

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However, an inspired substitution in the form of Jordan Ayew sprung the Swans to life, and just 10 minutes after coming on, he lashed home a stunning strike from 20 yards out to secure the draw for the Swans.

The draw no extends Palace's unbeaten run to eight games, and speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Hodgson said he is pleased where his team are now after a disastrous start to the season.

He said: "It would be churlish to say I'm anything other than satisfied. To have no points after seven games and to have 18 now and be out of the relegation zone, I think you have to be pleased with that.

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"The lads are working so hard. We would have liked more points, but we are chipping away. We looked quite dangerous on the counter-attack and our defending was solid throughout against a team that passes the ball very well.

"We restricted their chances to an absolute minimum and we had chances on the counter-attack and it was no surprise when we went in front with the penalty, but unfortunately for us they scored a very, very good goal."

Christian Benteke was unavailable for selection today due to suspension, and Hodgson admitted his side may have lacked composure in the final third. He added: "Perhaps we lacked that clinical touch.

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"Benteke and Wilf have been forging a good partnership. Benteke gives us a focal figure in our attacking play, who we can play up to and who can win headers.

"It's a different style of play when Wilf and Andros play up there together - we obviously missed that today, but all things considered, a point away from home. It's another step in our brick building exercise."

Finally when asked about their early chances of survival, Hodgson said: "We have to build our house brick by brick. There's a long way to go but if we can keep picking up points away from home we will be okay."

Palace next face a tough test when they host Arsenal on Thursday, as they look to extend their unbeaten run to nine games and pull further away from the relegation places.