Crystal Palace boss Tony Pulis has insisted that his side's pre-season friendly against Brentford was useful, despite a 3-2 defeat for the Premier League outfit.

The Eagles, who only recently came back from trips to Austria and the USA, were narrowly beaten by their Championship opponents at Griffin Park yesterday afternoon.

"We have been to Austria and America and only returned on Thursday morning from a long round trip to the States," Pulis told the club's official website.

"A few of the lads felt a bit leggy going into this one, but I kept all the outfield players on and it proved useful for the lads.

"The game got stretched which, again, was good for us. It was end-to-end stuff and I thought our boys worked their socks off. It was a really good game for them to be involved."

Palace begin the new Premier League season with a trip to Arsenal on August 16.