Midfielder Joe Ledley believes Crystal Palace need to look up the table and not over their shoulders as they bid to match last season’s survival bid.

The Eagles are currently eight points above the drop zone, sat 12th in the table and above the likes of Everton and Aston Villa.

However, last week’s 1-0 defeat at Southampton underlined nothing is certain yet as palace suffered their first Premier League defeat on the road under Alan Pardew.

Ledley said: “We’ve picked up some great points along the way since the new manager has come in.

“The win against West Ham was big for us and we have a good run of games in March, so hopefully we can pick up points on the way.

“We just need to concentrate on ourselves and not look at those behind us in the table.”

The Eagles were without skipper Mile Jedinak for last week’s game against Ronald Koeman’s side and will be missing their captain for a further four matches after the Aussie was banned for violent conduct after an elbow on West Ham’s Diafra Sakho.

“It’s a shame because we missed the character of the guy and he’s our captain and leader,” Ledley said.

“These days you don’t get away with stuff like that with all the cameras and technology.

“It’s a little bit harsh, but four games is a big blow and we are looking forward to getting him back.”

Sadio Mane’s strike on 83 minutes sealed all three points for the Saints and the Welshman was keen to emphasise it could have been prevented.

“It’s a sloppy one to concede and it costs you a game at this level,” Ledley said.

“I don’t think we were switched on as a team, as a unit we should defend that better.

“The guy had too much time and got a shot off.

“On another day we would have defended that more effectively.

“The goal was a sloppy one to concede, but apart from that I thought we did enough to earn a point.

“I think we were a little bit on the back foot at times, and then in the second period we came out really well and started really brightly. We had a few chances at the end too.

 “Wilf (Zaha) hit the post and we looked dangerous from set plays.

“On another day those go in. We just need to get our heads back up and go again.”

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