Patrick Vieira hopeful Crystal Palace will enjoy more ups than downs in run-in

It has been an impressive debut campaign for the former Arsenal captain at Selhurst Park, keeping the club comfortably away from the Premier League relegation zone and leading them to the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley last weekend.

Sunday’s defeat to Chelsea ended their hopes of silverware and has been sandwiched in between league losses to Leicester and Newcastle which will make a top-half finish a challenge.

Vieira’s side were on a seven-match unbeaten run recently and he is well aware of the up and down nature of the English top flight.

“This is the Premier League,” he said ahead of Monday’s visit of Leeds. “It’s about trying to be consistent with the performances and the results of course.

“We had some ups and downs during the season but we always managed to bounce back and to find a way to play better and to win games.

“Lately, yes the results are not what we expected but when we look at the performances, we had some really good periods in the games but it wasn’t good enough.

“We have to play better, we have to play more together as a team for 95 minutes to allow ourselves more chances to win games.”

Palace do not play this weekend and instead are in action on Monday, which allows Vieira time to make a decision ahead of Sunday’s French presidential vote.

Current President Emmanuel Macron, who is a centrist, is in the running against far-right nationalist rival Marine Le Pen.

Vieira was under no doubt about who should win, adding: “It’s a really important day for France and for the country.

“Hopefully everybody will vote for Emmanuel Macron and that will be a good day for France.”

After defeat at Newcastle on Wednesday, Vieira’s spirits were lifted a day later when he attended an event where he was officially honoured into the Premier League’s Hall of Fame.

It was announced last month the former Arsenal captain would be recognised by England’s top division.

“Yeah, it felt good. It was a lovely evening, seeing the players around, taking a look back at my career and what I achieved, it was a proud moment surrounded by my family,” Vieira said.

“It was good to be recognised as one of the players who had an impact in the Premier League.”