It’s going to be a “dogfight” for Crystal Palace to get out of the bottom-half of the Premier League table and away from the relegation zone, says James Tomkins.

The defender believes consistency will be key in 2019 as the Eagles have picked up 10 points from a possible 21 during the festive period.

But there are also just five points between them and the drop, with Chelsea’s 1-0 win at Selhurst Park condemning them to their 11th league defeat this season.

Tomkins admits the team underperformed against the Blues but insists the shock win away to Manchester City before Christmas gave them confidence to beat anyone.

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He said: “I think a few more points on the board is what we need. Let's not shy away from it, we're down there [in the table] and it's going to be a dogfight.

“We want to try and get out the situation that we are in and creep up the table.

“We know we can get a good performance and win against anyone after beating City away, that's what sort of confidence it's given us.”

The 29-year-old, who was speaking after the Chelsea defeat, added: “We know we could've got something today if we were on our game.

“I don't think we were on our game though today, we've had good performances but everyone wasn't on it and you need that to beat a team like Chelsea.”

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Palace have lost more league games now than they did at the same stage last season, which included a seven-match losing streak at the beginning.

Following a run of facing five of the league’s top eight during October and November, they now play five teams ranked between 7th and 19th in their next six fixtures.

Tomkins said the points picked up during December was “not a bad return”, however, he agreed it’s a case of striking the perfect balance between conceding and scoring goals.

He added: “We don't concede many goals, or we don't lose by many goals as well, but we just need to find that balance that I've said in many interviews this season.

“It's the consistency of doing that and then scoring at the other end. We haven't quite got that right this year and we need to start again against Wolves [on January 2], and hopefully we'll get a good performance there.”