Ghana forward Jordan Ayew believes Crystal Palace need to keep their feet on the ground and build on their recent strong form if they are to succeed this season. Ayew also describes his side’s pre-season tour in the USA as a good experience.
The Eagles recovered from a difficult run of form at the turn of the year to finish 2022/23 in fine form under Roy Hodgson, and the Ghana forward feels that retaining a grounded approach will give Palace the best chance of success ahead of the new campaign.
Speaking to cpfc.co.uk, Ayew said: “We need to stay humble and keep on working hard, because we know we have a lot of work to do if we want to be at the top.
“We need to improve on certain aspects of the game and we know that demands time, but we’ll get there. The most important thing is to always put in performances and show that we’re building on what we did last season, and to continue playing strongly.
“We need to build on what we did last season. We want to move forwards from that and keep on pushing, putting in good performances and enjoying ourselves on the pitch, working hard together as a team. Hopefully, the sky’s the limit.”
Palace begin their 23/24 Premier League season away at newly-promoted Sheffield United, kicking off at Bramall Lane at 15:00 BST on Saturday (12th August).
Ayew feels his team can take confidence from their last two displays of pre-season in particular: strong performances against Sevilla in Detroit (a 1-1 draw) and Olympique Lyonnais at Selhurst Park (a 2-0 win).
He noted: “We’re feeling good. We’ve had a good pre-season and now we’re back at it – back to business. I’m looking forward to the first game, and hopefully we’ll have a successful season.
“The tour to the USA was good. It was a good experience with a good environment and a good feeling. It was positive – we’re happy with it.”
“[Sheffield United away] is one of those games where you know the opponent will come out strongly. It’s going to be a very difficult game, but we just need to believe in our ability.
“We know that, going there, it’s not going to be easy, but we’ll try our best to win the game. That’s why we play football and what we want to do this season: try to win games.”
