Strand Larsen's thoughts on home debut & brace against Burnley
Jørgen Strand Larsen was disappointed his home debut for Crystal Palace – which started in spectacular fashion – ended in defeat to Burnley, despite the Norwegian netting a brace in front of his new supporters.
The Palace forward said: “It was a great home debut, until their three quick goals against us.
“It’s really annoying because I wanted to make this a special day, but I think we've all just got to learn from it.
“The Premier League is really tough and no games are easy, so this can happen, but at the same time, we need to take responsibility for the lack of concentration we had in those 10 minutes.
“With their first goal, I think all of us were not concentrating or working hard enough from the top to the bottom – even me, I feel like I should have done more to help the team then – so it was really frustrating.
“That can happen, and we just need to find ourselves again and get back into the game. I felt like we gave it a little bit away and played on their strengths, and then we couldn't really keep up with the momentum we had the first 30 minutes.
“We’re really disappointed with that, but we have to take the positives of what we brought to the table in the first 30 minutes.
“I think the reaction of the second-half was a little bit better at least. They made it difficult for us, but we gave it a solid effort. But I think in the end, we could have done a bit more, both to keep it away from our goal, and also to score a third one in the second-half.”
I feel really at home here, and we just have to keep on working
—Jørgen Strand Larsen
On his own performance – which saw him net a powerful half-volley and an excellent diving header in his first appearance at Selhurst Park as a Palace player – he added: “I thought it was going to be a special day – but I will always remember my first two goals here.
“It was a great feeling and the two assists were amazing. It shows what quality we have in the team.
“Obviously for myself, getting the two first goals here was really important. It's been a long time now and I feel really positive, I feel really at home here, and we just have to keep on working.
“I felt like I could have scored last game, so that was a shame, but I've been really hungry. I've been really pleased to come in here.
“I'm just going to keep on working hard and believe in myself, and that's the most important thing. I think this team has the possibility to do great things and we're not going to dig ourselves down under the ground because of a defeat.”