Dwight Gayle tipped his hat to Yannick Bolasie on Saturday after the winger's second-half introduction almost inspired a fightback against Arsenal.

The 25-year-old came off the bench in the 57th minute with the Eagles 2-0 behind and immediately ran the Gunners defence silly.

Glenn Murray, another second-half introduction, halved the deficit in the dying moments, before getting his head to a Bolaise cross only to see the ball bounc back off the upright.

It was Bolasie’s second appearance for Palace since returning from the African Cup of Nations and Gayle says his team-mate is worthy of a place in the first 11.

“Yannick’s a great player for us. He’s obviously come back from the African Cup of Nations and perhaps he is a bit tired,” said Gayle.

“But I have no doubts that he will be back in the starting line-up and pushing us for the rest of the season.”

Despite an impressive performance, Palace were beaten 2-1 last weekend as their winless run at home extended to four matches in all competitions.

The Eagles fell behind in the seventh minute when Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla scored a penalty after Pape Souare brought down Danny Welbeck.

Souare was making his first Premier League start for Palace and Gayle feels he is a quality player despite his mistake early in the match.

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Penalty opener: Arsenal's Santi Cazorla opens the scoring from the penalty spot

“Obviously it was not the best start. But he has played two games now and the boys know what he is about,” he said.

“He is a good player and he will show that in the next few weeks.”

Replays show Welbeck may have been fouled outside the box but Gayle says his side must find a way to deal with incorrect decisions.

He said: “I’ve heard it’s outside the box but these things happen and you got to adapt to it when they happen in a game.

“Perhaps it took a bit too long to get a goal back but we always showed that we could scored throughout the game.”

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