There was huge relief for Crystal Palace goal-scorer Andros Townsend as he ensured Norwich City couldn’t leave the Selhurst Park faithful feeling angry for a second successive weekend.

The Eagles fans were left fuming the previous Sunday, when a misjudged header from Joel Ward had allowed Wolves to snatch a 1-1 draw in the fifth minute of second half injury-time.

So the former England and Tottenham winger admits there were plenty of nerves around as the hosts struggled to kill off the Canaries' search for an equaliser of their own.

"Even as a forward thinking player, when you're 1-0 up and you come on with 20-25 minutes to go, first and foremost you have to see out the win," said the winger, who replaced Cheikhou Kouyate in the 70th minute.

"You're the one with fresh legs, you have to help out the defence, track runners, all the ugly side of it. Thankfully I got my chance and I took it and hopefully I can build on that now and go on a little run."

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Townsend's strike on his lethal left foot came after persistent play from Max Meyer and Wilf Zaha on the left wing, with the 28-year-old able to squeeze ahead of Jamal Lewis and fire low into the bottom-right corner.

It was a first goal of the season for Townsend, who scored three goals during his 13 appearances for England but hasn't been capped since November 2016, after featuring regularly when Palace boss Roy Hodgson was in charge of the Three Lions.

"Obviously we're delighted with the three points," he added, speaking to his club's official website. "It's been a crappy week for us, conceding in the last minute against Wolves. So to be in that same situation with 10-15 minutes to go, only a one goal lead, at times you fear the worst.

"We dug out well and thankfully Wilf did a bit of magic like he usually does and I was able to finish it off. It was a good three points and now we can enjoy the weekend and go again on Monday.

"Personally, it's not been a great start to the season. I'm not hiding away from that. I have to keep working hard, take my chance like I did and just be patient and when that chance does come again, I'm ready for it."