Alan Pardew: 'I am strong enough to handle pressure'

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew has insisted that he is "strong enough" to guide the team through their current run of poor form.

The Eagles fell to their sixth consecutive Premier League defeat courtesy of a madcap 5-4 loss to Swansea City this afternoon, leaving Palace level on points with 18th-placed Hull City.

Speculation over Pardew's future has begun to gather pace during their current run, but he is confident that he will be able to turn his side's form around.

Asked whether he still had the backing of the board, Pardew told reporters: "It's not my decision, but as a football manager you've got to try and address the problems and deal with it. I'm certainly strong enough. I've been here before so I know how it works and in terms of myself and my team. I have a good team and will be back in on Monday working towards Southampton [next Saturday].

"The goals we've conceded don't reflect well on us. But I will reflect on this game and try and correct it for the next one. We've had six defeats and a couple of them - at Burnley and now at Swansea - we shouldn't have had. That's what has put us in this mess, and we need to get ourselves out of it. I'm just so disappointed because my players gave everything in terms of commitment.

"But we can't concede goals like that at this level and it's something we need to address quickly. I thought we were in control of the game, but the last 20 minutes was the craziest I've ever seen. At 4-3, I'm afraid that's not good enough. We've got to see it out. I can't defend my defenders. We've got to be better than that. The group understand that we have options - we can change the team around. We need to get a victory quickly."

Palace have averaged fewer points per game than any other side in the top four tiers of English football this calendar year.