JULIAN SPERONI hopes to be selected ahead of Wayne Hennessey at Arsenal today (Saturday) - having come off the back of what he calls the best season of his career.
The 35-year-old, who is about to enter his tenth season with Palace and is due a testimonial during the next year, wants to continue to be the club's first choice goalkeeper after keeping 13 clean sheets last season.
"I thought I had a fantastic season last year, probably the best of my career," Speroni explained.
"I would love to continue with that, and I know Wayne wants to play as well.
"That is part of the game, we are a Premier League club now and there is always going to be competition for places.
"If someone is playing and not performing well then somebody is going to have a chance.
"Every player is the same, we all want to play. We have been playing even minutes in pre-season. Most of them have been 45 minutes each.
"No player is going to be happy if they're not playing. If you're not performing then someone else will have the opportunity. It's always the manager's decision.
"I have always had the backing of the supporters throughout my time at Palace.
"If I lose my place because I am not performing, then fair enough I will help Wayne and I will do the best for the team. It's not about me, it's about the team. That is normal."
The Argentine, speaking to the Advertiser before Tony Pulis' exit, wants to better last season's 11th-place finish too so that Palace can continue to build their status as a top flight club.
"To have success you need a strong squad, not just 11 players," said Speroni. "Things happen, you have suspensions and injuries. The stronger the squad is, the better chance there is to have a great season.
"We will welcome whoever comes in and we look forward to working with them.
"We are going to try to have a better season than the last one. You always want to improve and do better.
"For us, you need to establish yourself as Premier League club and stay in the league for two or three seasons. If we finish 17th, it will not be a bad thing. But that's not the idea to begin with, we want to have a better season."
