Crystal Palace defender Scott Dann has refused to blame goalkeeper Julian Speroni for his side's 1-0 defeat to Southampton at St Mary's on Tuesday night.

The Argentine keeper was at fault for the winning goal as he parried James Ward-Prowse's shot straight to Sadio Mane, who duly applied the finish seven minutes from time to seal the points.

However, Dann insists that Speroni has been responsible for winning far more points than he has cost the Eagles this season and also believes that the defence should shoulder some of the blame for the goal.

"You can't just point the finger at Jules. He has kept us in games at times this season and he will carry on making important saves for us," he is quoted as saying by PA.

"Jules said he should have done better but these things happen and we should have reacted better.

"He is a great goalkeeper and has done really well for us. He made a couple of good saves last night and made some good decisions coming out when they played balls through. These things happen but we'll stick together as a team."

Despite the defeat, Palace remain eight points clear of the relegation zone with just 10 matches left to play.