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Allardyce hits out at lack of recovery time

London - Sam Allardyce felt his side were fatigued as struggling Swansea overcame his Crystal Palace team 2-1 at Selhurst Park on Tuesday night.

The in-form Wilfried Zaha was again on target for the Eagles, but his goal came in between efforts from Alfie Mawson and Angel Rangel.

Palace had previously held Watford to a 1-1 draw before losing 2-0 to Arsenal on New Year's Day, with Allardyce bemoaning the demands so many games placed on his players.

Swansea, interestingly, had an extra days rest after playing Bournemouth on New Year's Eve.

After the game, Allardyce told the club's official website: "Fatigue is the main reason [for the defeat] and not having enough recovery time compared to Swansea. 

"It was blatantly obvious and our energy levels couldn’t get high enough to stop them passing the ball, and then after that we got very nervous when we were in possession and wasted far too much of it."

Despite acknowledging that his players had very little time to rest, Allardyce picked the same team that did battle with Arsenal just two days earlier.

He explained: "I have to take a bit of responsibility by picking almost the same side as we did against Arsenal which was the wrong thing for me to do."

Allardyce also felt his side were denied a clear penalty with the score still goalless when Christian Benteke appeared to be tripped by Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

"(It was a) blatant one on Benteke, I mean just outrageous the decision wasn't given," he told Sky Sports

"Paul (Tierney) is very young in terms of Premier League experience, and didn't want to give a major decision the right way, sadly for us. 

"At that stage of the game when we were struggling it would have meant a great lift for us and you may have seen a different result."

Palace who are just one point clear of the relegation zone with 16 points after 20 games travel to the Olympic Stadium where they will face West Ham United on Saturday.

Kick off is at 17:00.

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