Coach of Crystal Palace Roy Hodgson was full of praise for top scorer Jordan Ayew despite the striker drawing blanks in their one nil victory over Newcastle United on Saturday at Selhurst Park.

According to the gaffer Ayew was left distraught for not scoring despite putting an impressive performance against the magpies.

“He [Ayew] had a wonderful game. He comes off a little bit disappointed. He wants to score goals," Hodgson said after the game, as reported by his club's official website.

"He knows that if he is ever going to be regarded as a top, top striker people are going to look at his goalscoring record.

"We’ve got to make sure we don’t allow that type of thing to get him down in any way because what he is doing for the team is immeasurable, really.

"But it would’ve been nice if he had capped that performance with a goal or maybe two goals, and then I think he would be bouncing around even more than I’m sure he is at the moment because he’s a team player and he knows how much this victory meant to us as a team."

An impressive free kick from Patrick Van Anholt handed Crystal Palace all three points.