Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew hailed his Eagles fighting spirit after they came back from 2-0 down to beat Burnley.

A Dwight Gayle brace, and a fine Jason Puncheon strike, overturned early goals at Turf Moor from Ben Mee and Danny Ings.

The 3-2 final scoreline lifted Palace to 12th in the Premier League table – four points clear of the relegation places.

Pardew said: “We made it a really tough game for ourselves. We should have done better with their first goal, and their second goal was a foul – so we gave ourselves a deep mine to dig ourselves out of.

“But the character of the group doesn’t surprise me but the technical flair we showed on a tricky pitch to come back is a fantastic lift for us.”

He added: “The fighting spirit and resolve of the side was evident last year under Tony [Pulis] and there are a lot of the same players here.

“I don’t play in quite the same way as Tony, I ask the players to do certain things differently and they have responded very well to that.

“It was a marvellous game with snow, wind, rain and mud, dodgy decisions, great goals – it was a cracker.”

This weekend, Pardew takes his charges to Southampton – a side he managed in 2009 – for the fourth round of the FA Cup.