August 14 2011

Dougie Freedman

Palace manager Dougie Freedman felt the 2-0 success over Burnley was fully merited.

Jonathan Parr put Palace in front on 10 minutes before OWEN GARVAN sealed all three points from the spot in the 67th minute for the Eagles' first win of the season.

Freedman said: "That display merited a win. We started the game on the front foot and tried to make it difficult for Burnley to play football.

"I felt all the players were good, it was a good team performance. We have some great individual players at this club but we also have a team ethic that allows us to show that brilliance.

"The team as a whole worked well together and pressed together. We had a good tempo and deserved to win the game.

"We do have a lot of injuries but I don't want to make excuses. It was good for the players who came in because this was a team effort. That is what gets you success.

"This clubs produces a lot of good players but we have to all buy into what we are trying to achieve as a team."

Burnley boss Eddie Howe added: "It was a disappointing start. We were very slow out of the traps. We were under the cosh in the first few minutes and, when you come away from home and go a goal down in the first few minutes, it is always going to be difficult.

"After that, for the rest of the first half, we controlled the game and on another day perhaps the result would have been different.

"Their goalkeeper (Julian Speroni) made a number of great saves and we put a few balls into the box but defensively it is an area we need to look at.

"We will score goals but it is at the other end we need to tighten up.

"The second goal was a killer blow because the longer it went on, I thought we were getting back into the game. When it went to 2-0 it was an uphill battle."