Alan Pardew said Crystal Palace will look at signing a left-back in January if Pape Souare is not close to a return from the injuries he suffered in a car crash.

The Eagles boss hopes the 26-year-old will be back in training around the time of the window.

"Left-back is a position we are not as covered as we would like," said Pardew. "That is an area we might need to look at in the window if Pape does not come back to us. We need to get more action down that left-hand side. It was a problem against Liverpool."

Souare was at the Palace training ground yesterday and Pardew said: "He was smiling and happy, so that was a good sign."