The Eagles travel to the Etihad Stadium to take on reigning Premier League champions Manchester City this weekend after a run of five matches without a win.
But they do so following a strong performance – for which they were arguably the better side for 75 minutes – against current division leaders Liverpool at Selhurst Park.
Richards told cpfc.co.uk: “We know going to City is always a tough game, and we know we had a tough week behind us, but we’ll try to leave that behind us and take the positives from last week and hopefully use them going forward.
“Liverpool was a bit of a tough one to take, especially with the controversial double yellow [for Jordan Ayew] and just injuries here, injuries there, but I think we're really looking forward to writing the wrongs from it hopefully this weekend against City.
“When you lose a game, it's easy to think of all the negatives, but having a few days behind it now we’re seeing a lot of the positives. Liverpool are easily a top-three team in the league every year and we led them to the 75-minute mark. I think if we would've kept eleven on the field the whole time, I think we could’ve gotten a result.”
Setting that disappointment aside, Richards feels a level mentality will be key to approaching matches against City away, and Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford at home, before the turn of the year.
“Yeah, [the dressing room] is definitely level,” he noted. “We know as quickly as it can go down, it can just as quickly go to the positive as well.
“I think that's one good thing about the Premier League: you're playing multiple games a week for the most part, so if you have a bad game, you can't harp on that too long because it may feed into the next game.
“Of course nobody likes losing, but I think whether we're up or whether we're down, we try to keep a level head – because in the Prem, it can change in an instant.”
The defender-turned-midfielder also praised the role of the Selhurst Park supporters against Liverpool, stating: “We feel the energy of the fans and they expected us to fight. They cheered us and supported us: every tackle, every chance, every pass or even every missed pass.
“It felt great on Saturday to have that support, regardless of whether we had conceded or we had just scored a goal. We had great support for 90-plus.”