James McArthur revealed Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew admitted it would take a mistake for them to end their goalless streak against Tottenham Hotspur.

The Eagles needed a Jan Vertonghen own goal to finally end their run of five Premier League games without scoring, which stretches back to December 19, but Palace succumbed to three second-half goals to lose 3-1.

Pardew’s side are now without a win in six league games and McArthur admitted the team were desperate to score from any way possible.

“We were speaking about it before the game, we were talking about we need to try and play off mistakes right now, as in maybe it will take a mistake to try and get a goal,” he said after the game.

“We tried to press in the first half from the keeper and we forced them into a couple of mistakes that we tried to capitalise on, but we’re disappointed that we’ve not got anything where we could have nicked it.”

The defeat means that Palace have now dropped into the bottom half of the table, 11 points off their opponents Spurs in fourth place.

Tottenham’s Dele Alli and Nacer Chadli both scored spectacular goals in the final 10 minutes of what was a closely fought match, and McArthur believes the manner of the defeat reflects Palace’s luck at the moment.

“I think it’s just the way things are going for us right now,” he added.

“We got that wee bit of luck in the first half where they scored an own goal but we probably need to be clinical and try and score when it’s a very important time of the match.”

The 28-year-old also conceded the injuries to Bakary Sako and Yannick Bolasie are hurting the team at the moment.

“We’ve missed both of them, especially Yannick since he’s been out of the team,” McArthur said.

“We can give it him and he can drive at players and create something from nothing.”

After Pardew confirmed Palace’s interest in Emmanuel Adebayor last week, McArthur insisted the team would be open to anyone who can add goals - even if the striker has not played for several months.

“We’ll welcome anyone right now, it’ll give the players a boost,” he said.

“He’s a top player and he’s been at a number of clubs, he knows what it’s like to win every single week.

“We’ve got a good squad though, I actually thought Connor [Wickham] played well tonight.”

The Scotland international is well aware he and his team-mates need to improve their form sooner rather than later as Palace take on Stoke City at Selhurst Park on Saturday in the FA Cup fourth round.

“We need to get going, we really need to get going,” McArthur admitted.

“The cup will give us that opportunity to go and push for a win and hopefully it can help us start winning in the league again.”