Boss Alan Pardew has accepted the blame for the Eagles dismal run in the Premier League.

Following last weekend’s 3-2 defeat at West Brom, Crystal Palace have not won in 10 league outings – and in that time they picked up just three points.

The horrendous run has seen the Eagles plummet from European contenders to relegation maybes.

Palace head to Sunderland this evening, where if they lose and other results go against them, they could find themselves just five points off the bottom three by the end of Wednesday.

Pardew said: “I can't call on my staff and players to pull their fingers out without doing it myself.

“We're focused on what Crystal Palace need to deliver in these next 10 games.

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“The finger quite rightly turns to me and I should deliver victory for this team. I don't care how it comes.”

He added: “We're not going to put our head in the sand. We've been short of offensive players, but we can't keep leaning on that. I'm not going to make excuses.”

Last time Palace went to Sunderland, they ran out 4-1 winners thanks to goals from Glenn Murray and a Yannick Bolasie hat-trick – however, Pardew is not taking anything for granted.

“If Sam [Allardyce] had been there since the start of this season, they wouldn't be where they are. It's a very tough game,” he said.

“I don't think Sam will be looking forward to playing my team as much as I'm not looking forward to playing his team.”