CRYSTAL Palace manager Dougie Freedman refused to concede that his side is safe despite a 1-0 home win over Leeds United all but securing the Eagles' Championship status.

Neil Danns’ deflected left footed drive gave the hosts the perfect start after just 80 seconds and was enough to secure a vital three points which leaves Palace six points above the drop zone with a goal difference of nine over third from bottom Sheffield United with just two games remaining.

However the Eagles manager refused to get carried away, claiming survival was yet to be achieved, saying: “It’s not quite finished yet, mathematically we can still be caught but the biggest thing I was proud of was the spirit of the players.

“We now have a couple of games to see if we can finish as high up the league as possible which was always the aim.

“I spoke to the lads about how the first half of the season wasn’t good enough, we had a lack of confidence and weren’t getting the results but we have seen that slowly grow within them and they now want to better the position they are in and finish this season on a slight high.”

Palace had to withstand large periods of pressure from a Leeds side still chasing the play offs and despite a few nervy moments Freedman had nothing but praise for the way his side managed to keep a clean sheet.

He said: “Throughout the match we defended very well and the last time I read the text books it says to defend for your lives and then try and nick a goal and that’s how you win football matches.

“That is what we have tried to build our success on. It was a great defensive display, we defended for our lives at times and that is what the lads had to do.

“It was a situation that could have changed peoples’ lives in terms of what division they would be playing in, so full credit to them for the way they played.”

If Freedman manages to keep Palace in the Championship, which now seems likely, he will prove to some of the doubters when he took the job that he has what it takes to be a successful manager.

Performances and results have certainly improved since January and although the novice manager has made it look like an easy transition from coach, he was quick to point out it has been anything but.

He added: “It is certainly not easy. I just felt the lads we had in the dressing room were good enough to stay up and I just reassured them of that, there’s been no magic wand.

“I would like to think things have improved since I took over here, I have got high standards and I try to keep them as high as possible and every Monday morning win, lose or draw the best thing to do is turn up and try and improve things a little every training session.

“If you do your best and are at least trying to raise your standards, players will buy into it, it is credit to the staff I have got who have done that, some Monday mornings it can be hard to smile but if you can do that and give things a good go then you can’t be too disappointed.”

Despite many of the Eagles faithful now content with the thought of survival almost secured and revelling in the success of what Freedman has achieved, the man himself is not satisfied with where the Eagles will finish this season and has set his sights on the future of the club.

He added: “It is not a sense of achievement coming fourth or fifth bottom in the league at this club. I feel we’ve shown in games against Leeds, Norwich, and Cardiff that we can handle those games so it is not an achievement where we are.

“It is just a situation we found ourselves in around Christmas time and we have had to get out and now hopefully we can finish with two wins, end the season on a high and move on for next season.”

He continued: “Things will take time to get to where I want this club to be; there is no doubt about that.

“You don’t go from surviving on the last game of the season in administration to then winning the season, it is unrealistic.

“We have found ourselves in a situation and we are slowly grinding ourselves out of it and we will continue to do so until we are where I believe we should be.”