WE WON’T SIT BACK AGAINST JUGGERNAUT, INSISTS ROY

ROY HODGSON has promised that Crystal Palace will not set up for a damage-limitation exercise against Manchester City because they are not equipped to do it.

Hodgson (below) will not ask his team to sit back when Pep Guardiola’s runaway leaders visit Selhurst Park tomorrow in search of a 19th successive Premier League win, although he fears it might lead to a heavy beating.

‘They seem to score four or five against lots of teams,’ said the Palace boss. ‘Any team that tries to go toe-to-toe with them and attacks them risks conceding goals. But the players we have are suited to playing the way we are trying to play.

‘So we won’t have much option other than to try and do against them what we tried to do against Arsenal. ‘That might make it an entertaining game for the neutral, but it could make it a tough game for us.’ City scored five against Palace in September but there has been an upturn in form since then for Hodgson’s team, with an eight-match unbeaten run ended by a 3- 2 defeat to Arsenal on Thursday. But Guardiola’s City are relentless as they stake a claim to being one of the best teams in the Premier League era. ‘We’ve seen wonderful Arsenal and Manchester United teams and very strong Chelsea teams that have dominated the Premier League,’ said Hodgson. ‘Now we’re seeing a very strong Manchester City team. They don’t seem to want to let up in any way.’