Joel Ward: Arsenal defeat won't stop Crystal Palace making history in the Premier League

Joel Ward insists Crystal Palace will win more than they will lose this season

JOEL WARD is backing Crystal Palace to have their best ever Premier League season despite the fact his well-taken goal on Sunday was not enough even for a point against Arsenal.

 

The Crystal Palace full-back scored a spectacular low drive but it was not enough to secure even a point against their London rivals.

Nevertheless, Ward feels that with the attacking options in the side, the club are capable of winning more league matches then they lose – something they have never managed in the top flight.

“We will definitely win more than we lose this season for sure,” he said. “We have some incredible attacking options and we created quite a few chances against Arsenal and maybe on another day we would have come away with more.

 

 

Ward is congratulated by his team-mates after he levelled the score with a fantastic strike

“On the other hand they created a few chances as well. It's all about small margins in the Premier League and can swing either way.”

Manager Alan Pardew was one of the players in the final season of the old Division One in 1992 when Palace finished 10th with 14 wins and 13 defeats – the last time they have managed more wins than defeats in the top flight.

Ward admits, though, that the team have some lessons to be learned if they are to cross that line again.

 

“Mine was a nice strike but I think it gets overshadowed by the disappointment of conceding the second goal,” he said.

“But we just have to dust ourselves off and go on to the next one. We have a great opportunity against Aston Villa next week at home. Hopefully we will put things right.

“Arsenal had a point to prove and we were probably a victim of our own mistakes. But we have to go again.

 

“We were perhaps fortunate to come in at half-time level. After getting back in the game, we left ourselves with a mountain to climb when we let in the second.

“There were times we played well, unlucky with Connor Wickham hitting the post. Obviously, it was disappointing not to come away with something.

“But if you make mistakes against top teams, you get punished. We have to learn from that and learn quickly, starting next week to put it right.”