Alan Pardew praised Stoke City for becoming an established Premier League side ahead of Crystal Palace’s trip to the Britannia on Saturday.

Stoke are in their seventh season in the top flight after gaining promotion in 2008 and Pardew warned his side is not on the same level yet.

Palace’s 3-1 win over QPR last weekend lifted them up to 12th in the table, eight points clear of the relegation zone, but they are nine points off eighth-placed Stoke.

“At the moment we have momentum, but it’s only our second year in the Premier League – the most difficult year in a lot of ways,” said Pardew.

“We were in terrible trouble and we got ourselves out of it, but we’ve got a long, long way to go before we get anywhere near Stoke. 

“We’ve certainly made some good inroads and we’ve got good confidence.

“You have to live in the here and the now in the Premier League.”

Pardew ruled out catching the likes of Stoke, Swansea and West Ham in the top half of the table, insisting the Eagles are not yet out of the relegation battle just yet. 

“As we all know in this game seven days is a long time in football, so we’ve got to produce the same level of performance against Stoke,” he said.

“Two results from one of those bottom teams and you know it’s going to be very tight again.

“We’re experienced enough to know that we’ve still got work to do.

“Three points in the Premier League is very difficult to get. 

“There’s not often a team that runs away with the win, it all hinges in the last minutes and I don’t think it will be any different against Stoke.”

A large part of Palace’s recent turnaround has been down to the form of wingers Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie. 

Zaha is a doubt for Saturday after colliding with the woodwork while scoring against QPR, but Pardew was pleased with the way the two have developed an understanding.

The manager said: “I think any team coming up against Zaha and Bolasie knows that the full-backs have got a test because these guys can manoeuvre the ball. 

“They have to do the other parts of the job that don’t come as easy to them – discipline, work rate, commitment, aggression. 

“But they’re adding them to their games and they’ve got the flair in the game to create them.

“It’s exciting to watch them, though not so much for the opposing manager. 

“The style that we have with the two of them out wide, it can be a nice force for us.”