October 10 2018

James McArthur

Midfielder James McArthur reckons a lack of confidence could be behind Crystal Palace's poor form at home.

The Eagles have yet to win at Selhurst Park from their four matches this season and still haven't scored either.

McArthur admits he is struggling to put his finger on why the team has not been getting the results in front of their own supporters.

"I don't know, it's maybe confidence," he said. "When you get that goal then you obviously feed off that confidence, but we're not scoring as many as we would like at home. We're playing well but it's all about results in this game."

Fortunately, Palace have performed better on the road after picking up wins at Fulham and Huddersfield and McArthur feels that playing away could suit the team better.

"When we've been away from home we're getting those chances and taking them," said the 31-year-old. "We just need to make sure we keep our performance level high. Maybe teams feel a bit more pressure to attack us and it leaves them exposed."

Palace travel to Everton after the international break and manager Roy Hodgson may shuffle his line-up after two successive defeats.

With have an abundance of midfielders, McArthur could find himself out of the line-up but the Scottish international welcomes the competition for places.

"The competition that we've got keeps you on your toes," he added. "When the [cup team] boys do well, it's great but it's up to the players that they do their job.

"Obviously you want to be finding yourself on that team on a Saturday afternoon or Sunday, Monday or any time. So competition is great and it's only good for performance levels."