Hughes: We’ve got a bit of mojo back
Will Hughes says Crystal Palace’s season is turning a corner after the Eagles went three games unbeaten in six days.
Despite a lengthy injury list, Palace secured eye-catching wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa – the latter securing progression to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals – as well as a point at Wolverhampton Wanderers, all within the space of a week.
In the latter, Palace took the lead midway through the second-half through Trevoh Chalobah but, amidst a fervent atmosphere at Molineux, fell behind to two quickfire Wolves goals – only to bounce back to secure a point through Marc Guéhi’s goal.
“I think on the road it’s a good point,” Hughes told Palace TV. “Although we were in the lead and had plenty of chances to take that 2-0 lead, which would have been a really good advantage for us, unfortunately they came back into it.
“All teams at this level are going to have their spells and I think we fell victim to that, but I think we showed our character to then come back from that and gain a point.
“We’ll have to digest it in the week coming up, but it’s one of those games. Especially when you’ve played three in six days, the intensity we’re playing at now, with a thin squad, it’s difficult, but I think we showed resilience to get back into it after they went ahead.
“The resilience we showed, the determination… because it’s easy to go under when they score two goals in quick succession, especially with tired legs out there, but it shows our mentality.,
“The gaffer nails it about sticking together whatever happens on the pitch, and in the last 15 we could’ve gone on and won it.
“[To the fans] thanks for sticking with us, as usual. It’s not been the best of starts for us in the league but hopefully they can see, especially over the last few games, that we’re turning a corner, not only results-wise, but the intensity we’re playing with.
“We were so difficult to play against at the end of last season with our intensity, and I think we’ve got that bit of mojo back. Hopefully we can keep pushing on.”
Both of Palace’s goals on Saturday stemmed from set-pieces – Chalobah’s from a short free-kick played to Hughes, whose delivery triggered a mix-up in the Wolves area, and Guéhi’s from a corner kick routine.
Hughes said: “It’s something we’ve spoken about this season. In the Premier League it is vital – so many goals are scored from them.
“You look at the top teams – Arsenal, Manchester City – and they’re always at the top of the charts for goals scored at set pieces because they can decide games. We nearly won it today, having scored two set-piece goals.”