ALAN Pardew says Saturday's match at Leicester City is "crucial" to both sides as they look to move away from the relegation zone.
With six points separating the two teams, a win for the Foxes will give them a huge lift, while a win for Palace will make the gap even bigger ahead of next Wednesday's clash with Newcastle United.
And Pardew says no one at Palace believes they are safe and that they will be quite comfortably, with a little more than three months of the season to go.
"They're a tough team, they've done some business in January," said the manager.
"All the teams down the bottom can see the finish line is not that far away so points are very important.
"It's a game we can put great distance between us and them. On same token for them, it brings them really, really tight to us if they win. It's a crucial game in respect of that.
"There is not a feeling we are safe and I won't let that manifest itself. I think the team has good experience and ability, we potentially could finish mid-table if everything fell into place.
"I think we know we have a big battle on our hands as no one is falling away in the Premier League this year, so everybody and every game will be competitive.
"We have to make sure we are too."
By Mark Ritson (Twitter @MR_LWMedia)
