Crystal Palace boss Dougie Freedman says his players will not react to the pressure of being in the Championship play-off places.

The Eagles’ run of seven games without defeat, including six wins, has seen them soar up the table to fourth – only three points off top spot.

Freedman’s men started their run of good form quietly on the back of a poor start but now they are in the full spotlight, especially as the latest Championship prodigy in Wilfried Zaha is grabbing all the headlines.

However, Freedman says those putting the pressure on his team to succeed are the same people who were putting pressure on his side when they were losing – people who know nothing about the game.

The Scot said: “I cannot control what happens in the outside world, but I tell the players that when people were pointing the finger at the beginning of the season, ex pros telling you what you should be doing, I don’t listen because either they have never been a manager or they don’t have the qualifications to tell me that.

“And it is completely the other way round when we’re winning matches, so when people tell me we’re being fantastic and doing this well and doing that well, I still don’t listen, because these people have not been managers or don’t have the qualifications to be a manager.

“I take the exact same view whether winning or losing.”

He added: “I’ve been in the game for a long time and I’ve been up and down the country watching different coaching styles and talking with different people.

“So when you hear people who are not qualified commenting on games it can sometimes be upsetting because one or two individuals might listen to that and it can be harmful.”

Palace are without  a game this weekend due to the international break, before hosting Millwall on October 20, but Freedman says it will give some players a much-needed rest.

“Playing three games in a week really takes it out of you and is physically demanding on the joints. The lads were aching after the Burnley game,” he said.

“It is definitely time for a week off, get them wrapped up and ready for the Millwall game.”