Arsenal

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has accepted criticism for an eight-match winless run, which he does not think accurately reflects his side’s performances.

The former England manager is under mounting pressure to turn things around in south London, with many pointing to Steve Cooper as a viable and available replacement following his sacking by Nottingham Forest before Christmas.

Football Insider are reporting that Palace have ‘held talks’ with Cooper, but ‘he faces growing competition from ex-Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui’ as Hodgson ‘could depart as early as next week’.

Ahead of Palace’s game against Brentford, Hodgson told reporters: “It’s a bit of a deja-vu situation for me at the moment, because after the games I find it hard to really accept too much criticism of the team’s performances, but on the other hand I’m talking to people whose judgement has to be from the result backwards, and the results have been poor.

“So until such time as we can get some better results I would have to accept that (criticism), but I would be more concerned if the team was playing badly, and more concerned if we didn’t have the (Michael) Olises and the Eberechi Ezes to come back and help us out of this situation.”

Palace have not won since beating Burnley 2-0 on November 4, and their last – and only – league win at home came back at the start of September against Wolves, leaving them in 15th place and just three points clear of third-bottom Luton, who have a game in hand.

Hodgson’s side are slowly emerging from an injury crisis that has resulted in arguably his two most influential attacking threats, Olise and Eze, start just two of the Eagles’ 19 top-flight matches together due to their respective issues.

The duo’s second opportunity came on