He said: "Even as a forward-thinking player, when you’re 1-0 up and you come on with 20-25 minutes to go, first and foremost you have to see out the win.
"You’re the one with fresh legs, you have to help out the defence, track runners, all the ugly side of it. Thankfully I got my chance today and I took it and hopefully I can build on that now and go on a little run."
Turning his attention to the match and recent times as a whole, Townsend opened up on how it has felt for the squad after dropping points against Wolverhampton Wanderers and also at his own spell in and out of the starting XI.
He said: "Obviously we’re delighted with the three points. It’s been a crappy week for us, conceding in the last minute against Wolves. So to be in that same situation with 10-15 minutes to go, only a one goal lead, at times you fear the worst.
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"We dug-out well today and thankfully Wilf did a bit of magic like he usually does and I was able to finish it off. It was a good three points and now we can enjoy the weekend and go again on Monday.
"Personally, it’s not been a great start to the season. I’m not hiding away from that. I have to keep working hard, take my chance like I did today and just be patient and when that chance does come again, I’m ready for it."
You can hear more from the squad and manager Roy Hodgson now by heading to Palace TV. Either click here or 'Palace TV' in the official app!