James Tomkins
Crystal Palace defender James Tomkins felt a point was just rewards for the effort put in by the Eagles against Brighton on Saturday. Palace came from a goal down to claim a share of the spoils against their arch-rivals, with Tomkins pouncing on a mistake from Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to net the equaliser, after Solly March had given the visitors a deserved lead at Selhurst Park. But Tomkins said that Palace “gave it a good go” against a Brighton side flying high in the Premier League, with the Seagulls ten points and six places above the Eagles in the table. The 33-year-old admitted that Brighton were a good side and that Palace had to work hard to stay in the game, with Eagles fortunate as the Seagulls had a goal wrongly disallowed, while goalkeeper Vicente Guaita was in good form for Patrick Vieira’s side.
James Tomkins said: “They [Brighton] give us a good game every time they play us. Especially at Selhurst Park, it’s always a good game, and they’ve got good players and have been playing really well at the moment. A point was a reward for how hard we worked. We knew it was going to be tough because it’s always hard to play against a team full of confidence, and any game in the Premier League is tough, so we got in their faces, gave it a good go, and a point was a nice reward for us.You have to [be aggressive]. You get the crowd going. It’s one of the biggest games of the season for us.”
