It may have been the perfect start with a 3-1 win at Norwich, but Damien Delaney knows there are some big tests coming up soon for Crystal Palace.

The veteran defender helped himself to a rare goal at Carrow Road as Alan Pardew’s side began the new campaign on a winning note.

Next up is the small matter of Arsenal at home this weekend, with Chelsea and Manchester City also on the agenda in the coming weeks.

And although happy with the Norwich triumph, Delaney is the first to admit there is still a long way to go if Palace are indeed to improve on last season’s top ten finish as many are expecting.

He explained: “It is only one win, there is nothing handed out yet.

“We’ve got a tough run coming up now so it was always important to get off the mark today with a win.

“Next week we’ve got Arsenal, and then Chelsea and Man City as well, so the first six games are tough.

“But we’ve given ourselves a bit of breathing space and we look forward to the next 37 games.”

Palace’s success last year was definitely built on their away form, as the Eagles were beaten ten times in front of their own supporters at Selhurst Park.

Delaney is desperate to put that right, starting against the Gunners this weekend.

The defender said: “Of course it is important we improve our home form because we want to give our fans something to cheer about.

“Unfortunately last year we maybe didn’t do that as much as what we should have done but we’ve been working on that.

“We’ve had plans put together setting targets for what we want to do so if we can do that and maintain our away form from last year I’m sure it will be a good year for us.”

Norwich were in complete control in the opening stages, but for Delaney and Palace it was a case of making two years of hard earned Premier League experience count when keeping the newly-promoted side at bay.

He said: “In the first 20 minutes Norwich were pretty exceptional, but we’ve kind of been in that situation before.

“When you play against the big four teams that is kind of what it felt like.

“We were getting dominated but there is enough experience and enough know how in this team not to panic and just to weather that first 20 minutes.”

Delaney added: “We knew if we could weather it we would grow into the game and we did.

“Wilf started coming into the game, Punch started coming into the game so then maybe we felt a bit more comfortable then.”

And the defender was as modest as ever when playing down his own contribution to denying Norwich what might have been a game changing vital first goal.

Delaney said: “That’s my job - just to give the lads a platform, no more, no less.

“Our job is to keep the goals down as much as possible and not give ourselves mountains to climb.

“If we can do that - especially when you look at the bench, it was phenomenal today and with Yohan in the team - it is our job as defenders to give them a platform.”

Follow @NewsShopperSprt for live updates from Palace v Arsenal on Sunday (1.30pm)