Patrick Vieira hails ‘positive vibe’ around Crystal Palace

Patrick Vieira has spoken of the positivity around Crystal Palace ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Frank Lampard’s Everton.

The Eagles are in the midst of a five-match unbeaten run in all competitions, having held Premier League leaders Manchester City to a 0-0 draw on Monday.

Palace are 11th in the standings with nine games to go but the focus now is on FA Cup matters and Sunday’s shot at a Wembley semi-final for Vieira’s buoyant side.

“There is a positive vibe around the football club about the confidence the players and staff have at the moment,” he said.

“We know how challenging it is and how difficult it is to maintain performances or win games against Premier League teams.

“We try to be really consistent in our behaviour and mood. When things are going well we’re the same as when things are not going as well as we wanted.

“We keep working well, try to improve in training and have a clear idea about what to achieve on the pitch.

“The players, I’ve been really pleased with the attitude. The good period is with the way we’ve been working and the way the players are dedicated to football.”

Vieira believes such success is a reflection on the job being done from top to bottom at Palace, who saw summer signing Marc Guehi join on-loan Conor Gallagher in being called up by England this week.

“The first day I said this was the right club to implement the ideas I want to,” the World Cup winner said.

“I strongly believe the foundations of this football club are really solid.

“You have a chairman (Steve Parish) who is a fan and a sporting director (Dougie Freedman) who played at the highest level and has good experience.

“We had a good idea about the type of player we wanted to bring to the football club. This