Joe Ledley has backed Alan Pardew’s decision to not bring on another striker following Dwight Gayle’s red card in the 3-1 loss to West Ham United on Saturday, reports Mark Ritson of the Croydon Advertiser.
After Gayle was dismissed just before half-time, Pardew resisted the temptation to call on substitutes Patrick Bamford or Frazier Campbell, and Ledley believes it was the right call despite the result.
With the score at 1-1, the Palace boss decided to bring on Bakary Sako for Wilfried Zaha, pushing Yannick Bolasie as a lone striker, and the former Cardiff City man agreed with his manager, saying:
“At 1-1 we need to save the game and go a bit defensive with being a man down. We totally understand why the manager has done that and we’ve tried to hurt West Ham on the counter attack.”
Carl Jenkinson had given the Hammers a 1-0 lead before Gayle was tripped in the box, allowing Yohan Cabaye to equalize from the penalty spot. The former Peterborough striker would then get a second yellow card and turned the game on it’s head.
Manuel Lanzini and Dimitri Payet got late goals to condemn the Eagles to a defeat, but Ledley hopes Gayle can learn from his mistake.
“I just think Dwight will learn from it. He’s a great player for us and worked his socks off, he was just unlucky not to stay on the pitch.”
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