'We know how strong they are' - Patrick Vieira compliments Newcastle ahead of Crystal Palace clash

Newcastle United won in dramatic fashion last Sunday, as Bruno Guimaraes headed a 95th minute winner against Leicester to take Eddie Howe's side to 37 points in the Premier League. They now host Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening and will be hoping to hit 40 points with a victory.

Crystal Palace manager, Patrick Vieira, has spoken about the Magpies and praised them for the team they have become in the second half of the season. The Arsenal legend said: "We know how strong they are at home.

"A lot of energy and talent, quality of players who can run with the ball, score and create chances. But we concentrate on ourselves to be organised on the field and to play well as a team. When you go through the season some periods you will learn about the players and this is a period where I will learn a lot about the players and how we will bounce back after the Chelsea result."

Palace were not in Premier League action over the weekend but they did play in the FA Cup Semi-Final against Chelsea and fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat to dash their hopes of reaching the final. Vieira was asked how the players would be motivated following that loss and with the knowledge that they are not in any danger of relegation.

"We will learn a lot about players and what they want to achieve and what we want to achieve. We’ve been doing well, I’ve never had anything to say about concentration, determination and work ethic. I will learn a lot about them because we want to concentrate from the first to the last game."

He also spoke about the job Howe had done to transform the Magpies this season. He stated that the Newcastle manager's track record at Newcastle meant that he was not surprised to see Howe turn the dire situation around. "I'm not