Alan Pardew shares his thoughts on tonight's disappointing defeat against Palermo ...
"I was a little bit disappointed with the referee tonight. Some of the tackles I thought would have been punishable by yellow cards, which would have put them on edge - but there seemed to be more going in than in a Premier League game which surprised me.I thought we competed really well against a really good side, but I didn't think the breaks went our way tonight - and I include the referee in that - but we're still very much in this tie. We've got some quality players and it isn't over yet.
Was the ball for their goal out of play; the goalie's save from Tevez two minutes before; hitting the post; little moments that perhaps could have fallen our way. In games as tight as this you sometimes need those things but in terms of the effort we put in, the organisation of the team, the way we settled in with the two new guys - I was quite pleased.
I think the two new boys have shown the individual qualities they bring - it's just about harnessing it and not going away too much from what we're about. We haven't really nailed the team down to what we want and that's what we've got to do now.
We've got a big game on Sunday - we need to win that - and then we'll look forward to the second leg. I'm far from disappointed; in terms of the match up against a Serie A team that looks like it's going to finish in the top eight, we looked okay.
I think we've got a good chance. We're more than competitive for them. They'll have to open up a little bit even though they have the lead and we'll be more of a threat. It'll be interesting to see how they approach that game; in terms of what I've seen tonight we've got nothing to be frightened of."
We'll have more from Alan Pardew in the post-match press conference later.
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