Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson praised the impact of the club's January signings Adam Wharton and Daniel Muñoz.

The London-based club have been in a tough spot in recent months, as they hover over the relegation zone.

As they prepare to take on Chelsea on Monday, Hodgson admits they have been happy to get help in the form of Wharton and Muñoz.

He also stated on the absence of midfielder Cheick Doucouré: “Yes, he's been a miss. He's a link man.

“He was always there, he was the one you could link the play around. When you had the ball at the back, you could get out through him. When you had the ball at the front, he'd be there to get the next pass and keep things flowing along – and that's what Doucouré actually did for us.

“But I think that the club has solved his temporary absence – because it's still temporary, he will get back before the end of the season. It's a long injury, but I think we've solved that with Adam Wharton, because we've been very impressed with his early work here.

“He does exactly those things that I'm talking about, that we thought we were missing. I thought his debut against Brighton was good as was [Daniel] Munoz's, so that's a bright spot.

“With these two, and getting the other players back, as we will – because don't forget, this is a bad moment, but we are still 15 games from the end of the season. 15 games is quite a lot of games.

“There's a lot of points and a lot of potential wins. These guys will come back and this team will be stronger, I think, with the addition of the two we've signed."