Will Hughes put in another impressive performance for Crystal Palace in their 3-0 win over Norwich City on Tuesday afternoon.
The midfielder has played four consecutive matches for the south Londoners, having joined in summer. He registered his second assist against Norwich after winning a sixth-minute penalty Odsonne Edouard duly converted.
Reflecting on the game, Hughes said: “I don’t think we started great in terms of intensity but I think that settled everyone down, the 1-0 lead. And I think we built from there.
“When you’re 3-0 up at half-time it’s about managing the game. You don’t want to give them a sniff to get back into it because in the Premier League if a team gets a goal they can get back into it. So we managed it well, slowed it down and still created chances at the same time.”
Palace were playing their second match in three days after competing with Tottenham Hotspur on Boxing Day. With a depleted squad currently, the Canaries fixture posed something of a fitness challenge to the south Londoners.
Hughes gave his view on the density of games, saying: "Every game in the Premier League is tough in its own way. Tottenham are a tough, tough team and showed it. It was hard when we went down to 10-men.
“But like we said in the changing room before, if you match their [Norwich’s] intensity and work rate we know we have the quality to shine through and that showed in the first-half.
“You’ve got to get through these games because when you play twice in two days it takes a toll on your body, but everyone is in the same position and you have to get on with it.”
Finally, the midfielder found praise for forward Jean-Philippe Mateta, who scored Palace’s second. Asked how he felt players making an appearance after a spell largely on the sidelines, Hughes singled out his French teammates, saying:
“It was brilliant from JP – he deserves it. He’s been working really hard and his performance and goal he really deserved. That’s why we have a squad of 25, because when players are missing for whatever reason we have players to step in.”
