Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson says victory over Bournemouth was deserved.

Palace won 2-0 thanks to Ebe Eze's brace.

Hodgson said: “I'm very pleased. I thought it was an excellent performance from the team.

“At this stage of the season, this time of year, you're never quite sure whether the players are going to find that inner motivation. I always believed they could and they would, but to do it in such a dominant fashion as they did this afternoon is obviously very rewarding for them, but also for us as a coaching staff. We were delighted to see it.

“Both goals were excellent in the build-up, especially the first, which involved even more passes, but the second – with that incredible cross-field pass from Michael Olise and the wonderful shot [from Eze]…

“I thought there were so many occasions when the quality of our attacking play led to chances and quite clear goal opportunities, we just weren't quite able to find that final touch or final ball. We were so close on so many occasions. It's as dominant a home performance as I've seen since the Leicester City game.

“If there were any doubts today, these players, with that performance, blew them out of the water."

On five wins in eight games, he continued: “I'm delighted, of course. I'm delighted for the club and delighted for the players, because for them to show their true ability as they've done in these last eight games, that's magnificent.

“Of course, I'm happy I've enjoyed it so much and Ray [Lewington] has enjoyed it so much. We've enjoyed working with Paddy [McCarthy] and Dean [Kiely] again. It's been a really pleasant time and luckily we can look back on it as well as a successful time, because we came in to make sure we didn't sink further down and get relegated.

“We've actually ended up being quite comfortably in 12th place, playing some good football along the way."