Alan Pardew 'worried' by Crystal Palace performance

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew has admitted that his side's performance in their 2-1 loss to Watford this afternoon left him concerned by their current plight.

The Eagles have picked up just one point from 21 available so far in 2016 and are now nine Premier League games without a win stretching back to before Christmas.

Pardew felt that his side may have deserved a draw from the game, but acknowledged that they are going through a difficult time at the moment.

"That was as poor and unbalanced a side as I can remember putting out for Palace, it just wasn't happening for us. Too many long balls, it was a bit worrying if I'm honest," he told reporters.

"If I thought there was a complacency or lack of effort, that would really worry me. The things that worry me are technical issues, like the balance of the team, and making sure we dominate games, particularly against teams like Watford.

"It's been a difficult run. The boys' reaction after half time was about as good as I could hope for. We were a little bit unlucky to have lost this game."

Palace have dropped to 13th in the table, now just eight points clear of the relegation zone.