Hughes reveals roots of Palace's ‘extra edge’ at Selhurst

First-team

21 Dec 2023

Will Hughes hopes the visit of Brighton & Hove Albion to Selhurst Park can provide Crystal Palace with the ‘extra edge’ needed to turn the form book around.

The Eagles have recorded just one home victory so far in 2023/24, but went into Thursday night’s fixture off the back of an eye-catching 2-2 draw away at Premier League champions Manchester City.

Hughes felt the visit of Palace’s arch-rivals to SE25 could inspire a turnaround in that form, telling Premier League Productions: “That massive rivalry is what makes football for the fans. It is everything.

“I've been at other clubs where it means so much, and it is no different here. Obviously, we have to see it as playing for three points, but it does have that extra edge to it and we need to play with that.

“Everyone goes through these moments in the season. We had a strong start to the season and picked up points and then we've gone through a difficult spell of late.

“I think the performance against Liverpool was a bit of a turning point. I think we did well and were unfortunate in the end. Then, against City, to be 2-0 down and draw 2-2 away to them is a big confidence boost mentally. Hopefully we can carry that on for the next few games.”

As for fixing his side’s Selhurst Park form, Hughes noted: “It’s strange because our home form in previous years has been so strong, and nobody likes coming to Selhurst Park.

“It's such a difficult place to go and pick up points, but it's not been like that this season, which is difficult for us to take. Hopefully it's a little blip, like I said before, and we can turn that around looking into the second half of the season.

“It's just different when you're out there. You feel it. A lot of stadiums nowadays, they're massive, and the fans are so far away from the pitch. But I think at Selhurst you're so close to it, and you can feel the fans there on top of you and it gives you that little extra edge.

“It's a unique place, very old-school in how it feels in its atmosphere. I've experienced that from an away team's perspective before – it's very hard to play at – so we need to have that. We need to give the fans something to get off their seats for, and hopefully we'll deliver that on Thursday.”

While Palace’s festive fixture schedule has been relatively kind this year – the Eagles’ next match is away to Chelsea six days later – Hughes admits to relishing Christmas-time football.

“I just love how hectic it is, which is strange from a player's point of view!” he admitted.

“I know there's plenty of players in the Premier League whose schedules are a lot more busy than ours, playing in Europe et cetera, but I just love how the games come thick and fast.

“I love playing Boxing Day football, which unfortunately we're not playing this year – we're playing on the 27th. It's just been a tradition.

“From when I was young I always used to go and watch Boxing Day football and it just had that different feel about it, with the fans and everything that goes with it.

“We’ve got the players, the staff. In the club as a whole, we can really see that togetherness, and hopefully that will show in everyone with the next few games we play.”

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