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There are blue skies over Crystal Palace’s training ground, smoke is billowing from a nearby barbeque and not even the threat of a soaking from an errant sprinkler can dampen James Tomkins’ spirits.

For the first time in over eight months, Tomkins can afford to relax. The stress of a campaign which began by setting new standards in wretchedness - seven straight defeats and no goals scored – ends with a home match against West Bromwich Albion on Sunday which could see Palace secure a top-half finish. ‘Implausible’ does not begin to do it justice although, for Tomkins, the overwhelming feeling is relief rather than joy.

“It’s lovely now but it’s been difficult,” he says, stretching out on a chair in the sunshine. “I try and keep whatever troubles we might be having on the pitch to myself and not take it home to my family. But it’s always at the back of your mind.”

A pause. “But even though we started so badly, I never felt we were in serious, serious trouble.”

There is a simple enough explanation for that. The appointment of Roy Hodgson might not have prompted street parties in south London, the memory of England’s Euro 2016 exit unfairly obscuring his impressive body of work at club level, but his steadying influence was exactly what was needed for a club scrabbling to regain its sense of self in the wake of Frank de Boer’s chaotic 77-day reign as manager.

The Dutchman had ripped up the blueprintwhich had kept Palace safe for five seasons and the net result was four straight league defeats, players being deployed out of position and morale at rock-bottom. Hodgson’s arrival last September could not come soon enough.

“He didn’t hide away from the fact that we were in a pretty bad situation,” Tomkins recalls. “He told us how it was, what we needed to do to put it right and got to work on it.

“He concentrates on keeping things simple. There is a lot of focus on team shape, attacking as a team and defending as a team, and making sure we are disciplined in key moments. He gets his points across and we have a lot of meetings where we discuss things.

“Everything is always very focused and training varies depending on who the opposition is – so we prepare to play Arsenal in a very different way to Burnley, for example. It sounds simple, but sometimes that’s all you need

Hodgson’s energy, as well as his clarity of thought, took players by surprise. A manager who turns 71 in August not only braves a tortuous daily commute from his home in Richmond – even if Ray Lewington, his assistant, often does the driving - but is still resolutely hands-on in his approach to training sessions. His relaxed manner also helped ease the tensions around a squad which had struggled to warm to the eccentric – or, as one source close to the club put it, “weird” – De Boer.

"He wants to be involved in everything," Tomkins said. "You might have thought that a man of his age would want to take a step back but that's not the case at all - he is the one doing the main part of training every day.

“Roy’s experience means he knows how to deal with footballers. Managers can’t ever keep everyone happy but not many others I have worked with have done it better than Roy.

“Even people who aren’t in the side feel they are part of what we’re doing and contributing. Sometimes that just comes from talking – having a word with the injured lads if they’re doing rehab in the gym, or saying hello to people who work around the training ground. They’re small things, but important.”

Tomkins – a peripheral figure under De Boer – is Hodgson’s sort of player: understated, composed and every inch the model professional. The 29-year-old prefers his creature comforts in Essex, the county of his birth, to a flashier pad in London. And while most footballers react to even the most routine win with a blizzard of emoji-laden tweets, Tomkins lives in social media exile. He has long since deleted his Twitter account and do not expect an egregious dressing room selfie if Palace extend their unbeaten run to seven matches on Sunday: his last Instagram post was in 2016.

“I try and keep away from it,” he says. “People get sucked into it – writing, responding to things and reading what people are saying about you. I just wanted to focus on football.”

A smart move. This has been the most consistently impressive season of Tomkins' career, helped by staying mercifully injury-free since November, and it is surprising - given the paucity of in-form options for Gareth Southgate - that there has not been an England summons as the World Cup looms.

Tomkins concedes that international honours are "at the back of my mind" but he would rather extol the virtues of others than trumpet his own credentials – hence his passionate defence of Mamadou Sakho, his central defensive partner, and alongside whom he has never tasted defeat, and the mercurial Wilfried Zaha.

“People accuse him of diving but that’s absolutely not right – defenders are out to get him because he is so good,” he insists. “It can be a bit demoralising in training when he’s taking you on every five minutes. He’s matured massively.”

Keeping Zaha will be a key factor in Palace riding their momentum into next term, and ending their corrosive habit of allowing best-laid plans to be shredded by close seasons. In two of the last four years Palace have started the summer with one manager only to end it with another, and paid an inevitable price.

“The club needs stability,” Tomkins said. “It was a big shock when Sam Allardyce left [last May], so it’s important that we keep things steady. Burnley have showed what can be on limited resources and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to do that.

“Every club from eighth down has been involved in the relegation battle at some point, so it shows how close everyone is to each other. We want to be pushing for the top half and a European spot but first and foremost we don’t want to be looking down. It’s time we were looking up.”

Cheers YDG. A good read of facts and quotes. Tomkins has been POTY for me.

So I manage a Workshop which provides a safe learning environment for blokes struggling with PTSD and other mental health issues. Being a Palace fan isn't listed yet.

Allegedly he was a Hangeland signing

So under rated. Our new defensive rock. I was disappointed in him last season when he seemed to turn his back on a few too many times.

29 and 28, recon we can get 2 more good seasons out of them together.

A great read thank you.

This season Wilf, Tomkins, Luka and McArthur all outstanding.