After another dose of Premier League disappointment, Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew is desperate for a positive result and he does not care how he gets it.

A blunder in the Palace goalmouth by keeper Wayne Hennessey allowed Joleon Lescott's feeble header to trickle over the line to gift Aston Villa their first league win since the opening day of the season.

The 1-0 defeat means Palace are without a Premier League win, or a goal, in four games.

And life will get no easier for Pardew and his struggling frontline when they go to Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.

The boss said: "We looked short of energy and cohesion, and maybe the fact that our offensive players are all struggling to come back to full fitness was shown up.

"We’ve been getting away with it a little bit, but against Villa we didn’t."

He added: "Losing [Yannick] Bolasie was a blow – at least Connor Wickham and Bakary Sako has got some minutes and that is a positive we can take.

"Those guys are going to be very important in the next few games, because it is at the top of the pitch where our problems lie, not at the back. It is all about hurting the opposition and we did not do that."

Despite Villa's predicament at the foot of table, and their woeful record of one win in 20 league games prior to last night, Pardew insisted they deserved the points.

"It was a tough night for us, we came across Villa at a bad time in terms of the energy and commitment they showed, it was way above their recent performances and they deserved the victory.

"We could have had a perfect start, but [Wilfried] Zaha hit the post and that summed up our evening from then on.

"It that was one of our bright spells and there were not many, which is unlike us, and now we’re looking for a result in the Premier League, whichever way it comes."