Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew says they'll be stronger with Christian Benteke now signed.

Benteke's move from Liverpool - for an initial £27million, plus add-ons - was announced just a few hours before defeat at Tottenham, but came too late for the Belgian to be involved.

Pardew believes his new signing can make the difference.

"We had a great spell after half-time but, when you come to Tottenham, you have to score in that spell. That's the issue, and the signing of Christian is to address that," Pardew said.

"One thing that's always impressed me about him is he gets the goals you'd expect, but every now and then he gets a rabbit out of a hat as well.

"That's what you need on days like today. One moment would have changed the whole course of the game and, in that 20-minute spell, he could have done something for us."