Roy Hodgson hopes Crystal Palace invest in players as they secure ninth straight season in top flight

Roy Hodgson was very pleased that his Crystal Palace side secured their ninth consecutive season in the Premier League, thanks to a convincing 2-0 win over Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon.

Goals from Christian Benteke and a superb solo effort from Eberechi Eze helped the Eagles over the line, mathematically preserving their top-flight status.

While Palace have had the luxury of being able to look up the table instead of worryingly over their shoulder for the entire season, Hodgson said that he was “very pleased” to have sealed the club’s place in the 2021-22 Premier League season.

Hodgson added: “I haven’t really worried about it at any stage. Since we’ve been stuck for a couple of weeks on 38 points, it’s still not really occurred to me that we were likely to find ourselves in a relegation scrap.

“But it is nice to get over that line and over the 40-point mark as well – delighted today.

“Once more, we have done it with a group of players who have been very faithful to the club, very loyal. The bulk of them were here when I came, and one or two others who actually weren’t here when I came – such as Cheikhou Kouyate and Jordan Ayew, who came seven or eight months after my arrival.

“There are an awful lot of players really who we’re grateful for – for their incredible efforts over not just the four years where I’ve been in charge of the team but even before that.

“The club has wanted to invest more. The club has wanted to help out, but we haven’t been able to do that so far.

“Let’s hope now that will come about, and some of these guys will get a bit of boost from one or two new faces coming into the club – just like we have had a boost from the new face of Eberechi Eze.”