CRYSTAL Palace boss Tony Pulis admitted after the win after West Ham that he's glad his side are safe before a "nightmare" final two home games.
The Eagles were already all but safe after four wins on the bounce, but made mathematically sure with their fifth straight victory - 1-0 at Upton Park on Saturday.
It takes the pressure off two high-profile matches to come at Selhurst Park, against title-chasers Man City and Liverpool.
Pulis said after the West Ham game: "I actually looked at the last few fixtures and the last two home games are an absolute nightmare; Man City and Liverpool. So I thought we'd better be close at this time as I wouldn't like to be going into them needing points.
"But it's been a remarkable turnaround and everybody at the football club deserves a lot of credit. They've really bought in to what we're trying to do and they've worked very hard on the training ground.
"That doesn't just happen. You have to work very, very hard. They have stomached a lot of weeks without having any days off and a lot of stuff which maybe would bore a lot of people.
"They've bought into it and they've got results and I'm very pleased for them because they are a very, very, good group."
Palace are now on 43 points - a full 13 clear of the drop zone - with just three matches to go this season.
