Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson admits he's been able to make such a successful impact as he was able to study the team by watching them on TV.

Hodgson has guided Palace to Premier League safety after replacing the sacked Patrick Vieira.

He told Sky Sports: “I'd seen their games, albeit on the television.

“I realised there was a lot of attacking talent here – players with exceptional technical skills, and good pace as well.

“I knew with these guys, we had pace, athleticism and technique, so there was no reason why, if we could get these players into the right positions, they couldn't score goals. We had to make certain we made them focus on the moves, the type of play and the type of actions that were going to be necessary for them to get into those positions.

“[We told them] when it happens, we're one hundred percent behind you, so don't fear you can't take the shot or make the dribble – we will be more angry with you if you don't, and you play the simpler ball and start attacks again.

“It takes a lot of effort and play to get into good attacking situations – you've got to profit from them because if not, you start all over again and there's no guarantee the next situation will be any better.

“If you're going to bring any calmness and belief, and promote some sort of faith in the group itself that we're good enough and we can do that, you've got to have the faith yourself.

“I was pretty convinced we were going to give the right messages, we were going to do the right training sessions – we were going to give the right support, and as a result we had to show a bit of character ourselves."