Why Crystal Palace are in danger of being sucked back into the relegation zone

Crystal Palace already appear to be a relegation after thought. Under Roy Hodgson, a candidate for manager of the year, they’ve done the hard bit. Now to finish the job and start planning for the future.

Though if you dig a little deeper any celebrations at Selhurst Park are wildly premature. It’s a revival, not quite survival.

Failure to beat Newcastle United on Sunday paired with an injury blow to the critical Wilf Zaha and a quiet January transfer window leaves the Eagles with a lot of questions still to answer.

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They aren’t safe, not by a long way. A Premier League table which sees them only three points above the drop zone and a fixture list to frighten will require another show of strength.

Sure, they would have taken that three months into the season. They couldn’t score, let alone win and fans were already digging out the guides to Barnsley and Burton Albion.

It’s not of their doing. Under Hodgson, they took flight. But that was then. Now, they can’t be sure. Others are doing what they did so well. New manager, new ideas, and new hope.

It’s put the cat firmly amongst the pigeons as it’s very difficult now to pinpoint a club for relegation. Few, though, are putting forward Crystal Palace. In there lies the danger in south London. The silent sometimes suffer the most.

Palace have a problem. Their talismanic winger Zaha is out for a minimum of a month and although they have taken a solid seven points from their last three matches, there are obstacles ahead.

They face a difficult trip to Everton next, before the fun really starts. Three games on the spin with Tottenham, Manchester United and away to Chelsea. It’s Liverpool after a potentially huge match at Huddersfield Town.

The big issue is that Palace didn’t do enough in the window and they’ve rolled the dice. Ruben Loftus-Cheek will miss most of the season after returning to Chelsea. He may need an operation to control an ankle problem.

They are short on numbers, and without their main goal threat for a month and with so many challenging games in front of them you can’t say fears that they could be sucked in aren’t misplaced.

It could be a bookie breaker. You’ll struggle to see odds less than 6-1 to Palace to go down, with one offering 8s. Nobody is really mentioning them, which as we’ve seen before in a February danger.

This weekend you would expect some of the sides below them in the table to collect. Much improved Swansea welcome out-of-sorts Burnley, while Stoke are at home to Brighton. Huddersfield know they need to beat Bournemouth or their struggle become an uphill one.

Palace fans have already seen how quickly fortunes can change in the Premier League this season.

They may not be displaying signs of impending doom but they must guard against a second, much crueler, twist which could lie around the corner.