Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew was delighted with Glenn Murray's performance for victory at Sunderland.

Pardew said the decision to let Murray go out on loan, criticised by some fans, had helped him hit the goalscoring form which will see him looking to score for a sixth time in as many games against Sunderland on Saturday.

"He probably did need a few games and its difficult to get them in the Premier League," said Pardew.

"It might have been that he stayed here, came in and couldn't quite find his form, so in a way, the loan, which I think is perceived as a negative by our fans, might not have been a bad thing, and I'm obviously getting the benefit of that."