Patrick Vieira admits Crystal Palace need to make moves in the January transfer window to remain relevant in the Premier League.
Saturday’s victory showed encouraging signs after a below-par performance in a 3-0 defeat to Fulham on Boxing Day, but Vieira knows he needs more options if the club wants to avoid a competitive plateau.
He said: “The focus is really on the players that we have. I think (against Bournemouth) we showed that we have a really good group of players. Of course we want to improve the squad. We’ve identified the profile of players that we need.
“And now the scouting department is starting to look after those players. And then the second phase of it is to see if we can make it happen or not. But of course we will need players if we want to be more competitive in the Premier League.
“But if we don’t find those players, we will work as well as we can, like we did (against Bournemouth).”
Palace added just four players over a relatively quiet summer. Midfielder Cheick Doucoure’s arrival from Lens was perhaps the most high-profile, while American defender Chris Richards has missed most of the season through injury.
The further additions of back-up goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and teenager Malcolm Ebiowei on free transfers left Vieira with a squad he frequently admitted was “short on numbers” to start the season.
