CRYSTAL Palace’s players dedicated Saturday’s maiden 2-1 Championship victory of the 2012/13 season to the club’s loyal fans, according to boss Dougie Freedman.

The Eagles lost 4-1 at Preston in the League Cup on Tuesday night to cap off a horror start to the season which left Freedman coming under fire from some sections of the Palace support.

But he insisted he was happy rather than relieved at the final whistle after Glenn Murray’s brace lifted the Eagles off the foot of the Championship table.

Freedman explained: “I’m not relieved, I’m happy for the Crystal Palace fans who have stuck with us for the last three or four games where we’ve been disappointed by the results.

“But that was a display of character and determination to repay the fans.

“We all make mistakes, we all lose a few games but the Crystal Palace fans know what it is all about.

“When a few results don’t go your way, there are always a few experts out there telling you what you’re doing wrong.”

He added: “We were low on confidence but we ground out a win against a side who won promotion last year, were unbeaten in 18 games and had the momentum with them playing against a side bottom of the league who everyone has written off.

“And that just shows you what sort of character I’ve got in my team.

“We wanted to go and win the game and I felt that is what we should focus on.

“We played an expansive game today where we left ourselves vulnerable at times but we always had that threat when going forward.

“It was a very good team performance.

“A good team performance was needed and we got that today.

“I was told by one of the players this win was for the fans because I think they were a little bit humbled in the dressing room on Tuesday night when we got beaten and the fans were still singing and supporting us.”

And the Scotsman is confident the Owls victory could prove to be a springboard for the rest of the season now he has managed to bring a couple of new faces into his squad.

The Selhurst boss added: “I believe this team will get better and stronger but right now they showed that they had the character to dig in and win the game.

“We’ve bought a few in over the last few weeks who are not in a lot of other managers thoughts and who are maybe a little rusty as well but there was a lot of character and determination in that team throughout the 90 minutes.

“We just feel as though if we can give a little bit of love and support to certain players then we will be capable of winning games in this division.”

Follow us on Twitter @NewsShopperSprt