Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has revealed that the club's impressive start to the new season has given him belief that he has built a strong side at Selhurst Park.

Palace currently sit second in the Premier League standings after collecting nine points from four games, three of which came from a memorable victory away against Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.

"We all look at the league table, of course we do, and it is good to hear people saying this weekend's match against Manchester City is a top-of-the-table clash, but we will not get ahead of ourselves," Pardew told ESPN.

"It's good fun for the fans that they can see us at the top end of the table, but we don't know how long we can stay there and the ambitions we have this season are still focused first and foremost on getting 40 points and securing our place in this league.

"What no-one can deny is we deserve to be where we are and we deserved to beat Chelsea in our last match as well. We had good periods of control in that game at Chelsea and created a lot of chances. That encourages me to believe we have a good team here now."

Palace take on Manuel Pellegrini's City on Saturday afternoon.