Crystal Palace keeper Julian Speroni admitted his side were undone by the same formula which brought them so much success last season in Saturday’s defeat to West Brom.

Early goals in each half from James Morrison and Craig Gardner allowed the Baggies, managed by former Palace boss Tony Pulis, to sit back and defend for most of the match.

Palace enjoyed the majority of possession at Selhurst Park and had chances through Yannick Bolasie’s spectacular bicycle kick and Dwight Gayle hitting the bar from close-range, but Speroni felt it just wasn’t meant to be.

He said: “We were expecting them to all play behind the ball, as it’s what we did all of last season.

“We knew they were going to do that, but the key was conceding a goal so early in the game.

“That gave them the chance to play behind the ball all game.

“We kept going, but it just wasn’t our day.

“On another day we would take one of our opportunities and be back in the game.”

Gardner halted the Eagles’ momentum shortly after the break with a dipping long-range effort and Speroni had no complaints about the goal.

“It was a great strike - you go for it and hope that the ball hits your hand but it didn’t happen,” the Eagles number one said.

“Sometimes you have to put your hand up and congratulate the striker.”

Alan Pardew altered the line-up by playing Joe Ledley at left-back to allow captain Mile Jedinka to return in midfield alongside James McArthur.

And Speroni felt this was testament to the quality within the Palace squad.

He explained: “They’re great players so they’re always going to compete for places.

“We need everybody as you can’t be successful with 11 players in the Premier League.

“We have a good squad of players so players can come in and that’s very important.”

Palace have climbed up to 11th in the Premier League in recent weeks after four successive wins, including a victory over last season’s champions Man City.

Despite the end of the run on Saturday, Speroni was pleased with the team’s response in the second half, particularly the introduction of Pape Soauré.

“After a defeat I’m always disappointed,” the Argentine said.

“But we’ve been on a fantastic run and we need to carry on with the same way.

“Soaure is an attack-minded player so the idea was to get someone on to put some crosses in and change things around.

“He’s improving, he’s studying English.

“It will take some time but football isn’t that complicated really.

“You can’t give speeches on the pitch, it’s just simple words like ‘time’ and ‘away’.

“I think he’s almost there, he just needs some time to adjust to the league more than anything.”

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