Tomas Soucek will be looking to start the year as we ended it at Sehurst Park tomorrow (Sat) …with a win.

The victory over Watford – poor though the opposition were – was badly needed and gave the squad a real confidence shot.

Now we travel to south London to meet a Palace team sitting in 11th place with 23 points after their 3-0 win over Norwich City.

And Soucek believes the squad will be in good heart for a match which will prove critical in keeping us in touch with the top six.

He was also keen to put to bed  suggestions that his relative lack of goals – he netted ten times in the Premier League last season – is the result of midfield partner Declan Rice taking on a more advanced, box-to-box role this term.

Discussing that he said: “It’s not about Declan, it’s about me! I always want to help the team with assists or goals, with everything, defending as well, so it’s great I could score and help the team get this win.

“We played well, but we were still losing 1-0, so I’m happy I could score our first goal and help get the result for our team.”

“It was a big relief because I think after we beat Chelsea, it was four or five games we couldn’t win.

“We sometimes played well and sometimes bad, but I’m happy we won at Watford and to score four goals in an away game is a big achievement. Now we need to be ready for the next game.

“We need to keep going and keep pushing. This game and the three points were really important for us, for our confidence and for our spirit, as another loss could have been crucial for us.

“I am really looking forward to the next game. It was really hard playing again just one day after Boxing Day, but I love it and I look forward to next year and hope we can start it with a win as this is the best way and we want to do it.”

He was also happy to see Nikola Vlasic score his first goal for the club saying: “I am happy for him because he deserved it. His attitude is great and he shows it every day on the training ground. I think it’s a big thing for his confidence and I hope he adds many goals in the future.”