Speaking to Palace TV post-match, Tomkins discussed his role as the player who leads the team out, he said: "Very honoured that Roy chose me to take the team in these few games that Luka is out. It shows what he thinks of me and I really appreciate it. I hope I am showing a role on the pitch that warrants being a captain."
In terms of the "crazy" 90 minutes at the Etihad, Tomkins added: "I knew we were going to get bombarded second-half and understandably so going in 1-0 up. We absorbed everything really and it took a special ball for them to equalise and another good ball for the second.
"2-1 is disappointing at that point but we knew if we kept going, because they’re quite leaky at the back, we could get something. And to get that goal at the end was massive. If we had come in and lost that we would’ve been disappointed after everything we’d given."
Resolute defensive performances are something Hodgson's Palace are famed for, and Tomkins discussed what exactly is required to consistently turn in those performances: "Keep a good shape about us. Defend well. Sometimes you’ve got to get lucky, such as [Kevin] De Bruyne’s free-kick that hit the bar. You buy your own luck at times and we went in 1-0 up and felt good about it. Everyone continually putting a shift in."
At the other end of the field, Tomkins was impressed with the impact Cenk Tosun made for the Eagles: "His first start for us. He’s a handful at times and he’ll hold up the ball and he got his goal that his performance thoroughly deserved."