A delighted Roy Hodgson dubbed Crystal Palace's performance and victory over a below-par Huddersfield Town a "very positive evening" for the Croydon club as the Eagles sealed their first win of the ex-England boss' tenure.
A first-half Bakary Sako header was enough to take Palace past Town and into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, while the Terriers will be left ruing what might have been had their first half performance mirrored the second.
Not only were Town lacklustre in the first period, but Palace started sharply and wer on the front foot from the first whistle.
The Eagles showed a desire to earn their first win under the new boss and gave the fans a reason to cheer - something they have not had in the league, with Palace losing all five of their Premier league matches without scoring a goal.
When reflecting on last night's victory over Town, Hodgson said: "The players will understand, like the fans do, that you don't repair the kind of damage we've suffered overnight.
"It's going to be a longish and hard process. But I know there's light at the end of the tunnel, and I started to see some shards of that.
"The week's work has really pleased me. I'm pleased with the win, pleased with the first-half performance after only a week's work. The second half I was pleased when the going got tougher; we had to dig in, fight, chase and we did that too.
"It was a very positive evening. We left a lot of players out who have been playing."
Hodgson highlighted the performance of ex-Liverpool centre back Mamadou Sakho, who Palace bought for £26m over the summer
"(Sakho) was excellent," said the Croydon-born manager.
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"He hasn't been able to train as much as he'd like. We were worried about his level of fitness and surprised he lasted as long as he did.
"It wasn't Mamadou being desperate to come off but, as a precaution, we thought he should come off after 70 minutes. He will be ready (to play at Manchester City on Saturday)."
