Roy Hodgson insists he can keep Crystal Palace in the Premier League amid growing pressure on the veteran boss.

The Eagles slumped to a 3-1 defeat against London rivals Chelsea on Monday night despite taking a first-half lead as former player Conor Gallagher scored twice.

But despite being favourite to be the next top-flight manager to lose his job, Hodgson believes he is the right man to steer the South Londoners away from trouble.

He told the BBC: "I am confident [we can stay up].

"At the moment we are playing without three or four of our most experienced and quality players and they won't be out until the end of the season. 

"I am not concerned we are going to be relegated and the way the players played tonight, if you add the quality to that, I don't think we need to be too concerned about relegation. 

"We are not complacent about it but I believe in the team and players and believe they will pull us through.

"From the way the fans were, it seems they thought the same. Their support was really good. We shot ourselves in the foot to a certain extent."

Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze missed today's defeat, which leaves Palace 15th in the table ahead of a showdown with relegation rivals Everton on February 19.

Eagles fans have voiced their displeasure but Hodgson, 76, asked them to temper expectations.

He added: "I can only hope that the fans are realistic. We have injury problems and we have some young players making debuts and finding their way in the game. 

"I would like to think that they take those things into consideration. There are still 14 matches left in the season. I don't know what the attitudes are going to be."

Gallagher was the driving force behind Chelsea's win as he popped up to haunt his former club again having scored a late winner at Selhurt Park in 2022.

He told Sky Sports: "I'm sorry Palace fans. I do love them but you can't beat that feeling.

"It was a tough win. We weren't good enough in the first half and we had to stick together to get the job done. We are buzzing with the three points."