Oliver Glasner insists he is “positive for the future” despite Crystal Palace’s nightmare start to the season.
The Eagles lost for the fifth time in eight games in the Premier League on Monday night after Chris Wood struck to seal a 1-0 win for Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
Forest led 20 minutes into the second half when Wood’s low strike from 25 yards beat goalkeeper Dean Henderson at his near post, the latter getting a weak hand to the ball as it squirmed past him and into the net.
Palace twice hit the woodwork but in truth created little in a game that pitted the second best defence in the league against its worst attack, with the away side managing a paltry five goals in their eight games to date.
Forest, who were without manager Nuno Espirito Santo as he serves a touchline ban, rose to eighth place in the table with 13 points from their eight matches, while Palace languish in 18th, still without a win and three points to their name.
There has been a remarkable dip in form at Palace, who ended last season with six wins out of seven but Glasner believes the “mindset” of his players are reasons to believe things will improve.
“At the time we conceded the goal we had the momentum in the game and we had control of the situation,” said Glasner.
“It is a long ball and then you are 1-0 down.
“Then for 5-10 minutes Forest had the momentum. We worked and worked and worked to come back but they do not concede many goals at the moment. Disappointing but the mindset of the players makes me positive for the future.”
Palace host Tottenham on Sunday and the Eagles boss says his side are striving to yield an improvement.
“It’s tough at the moment to be honest,” he added.
“But the character of the players, the hard working. Yes it’s disappointing but nobody is blaming anybody. The chemistry is good in the dressing room. We need the confidence and to get that we need to score goals.
“We will work hard to get this, to get the goals and the win.
“It’s not about too much tactical things, I see no problems regarding the tactics. Very often we are in the final third and making the wrong decisions. This is due to a lack of confidence. We are humans.
“It’s time for hugging the players, not for kicking them.”
