Sam Allardyce admits he thought it would be easier to get Crystal Palace playing the way he wants them to.

Palace have taken just four points from Allardyce's first eight Premier League games at the helm, with a 1-0 defeat at Stoke City following last weekend's calamitous 4-0 loss at home to Sunderland.

Despite a markedly improved display at the bet365 Stadium, the Eagles left empty handed after Joe Allen's strike sent Stoke into the top half.

With his side 19th and two points adrift of safety, the former England boss admitted things have not gone as smoothly as he anticipated.

"It's not been the results I expected. I thought it would have been easier for me to get the players to understand certain things," Allardyce is quoted as saying by the BBC.

"We all need to take more responsibility but we have to keep our chins up and graft away.

"I'm disappointed for the lads. They had many moments in the game when we were in control and none more so than when Stoke scored.

"They scored their only shot on target in the second half. It's a 1-0 defeat again and not the point that we deserve, at least.

"We have to keep battling on and believing. These are an honest bunch of players.

"Today the overall performance was there but the result wasn't. It's a results business and we need them fast."

Mark Hughes acknowledged Stoke faced difficulties in breaking down Palace but was confident they would come out on top.

"It was a hard-fought win I have to say. We needed that breakthrough and it was a great goal when it came," Hughes said.

"We always felt that we would see the game through to a conclusion once we went ahead, and we restricted Palace to very few opportunities.

"It was a war of attrition at times, Palace came here and made life difficult for us. We had to be vigilant but we were always waiting for that breakthrough. We had four good opportunities before we scored."