Crystal Palace midfielder Justin Devenny has rejected suggestions the Eagles' tough run of form has been affected by the the club's small squad suffering from fatigue across a bruising festive schedule.
Palace are enjoying their second-best Premier League points tally after 20 games of a season but have fallen from fourth in the table to 14th in the space of a month following a run of four defeats and a draw from their last five games.
All that has come while Palace's already thin squad has been further stretched by the loss of influential forward Ismaila Sarr to AFCON and further injuries in key positions amid a run of eight games in December. They have made just 20 line-up changes all season, the equivalent of one per game and 10 fewer than any other Premier League club.
The Eagles are enduring their worst league form under Oliver Glasner since the early weeks of last season and their underlying numbers have dipped, but not anywhere near the extent of the results which have followed.
Palace could argue they deserved more out of defeats by Manchester City and Tottenham and were the better side against Fulham on New Year's Day, before Tom Cairney's late equaliser denied them an overdue victory.
Speaking ahead of their match with in-form Aston Villa on Wednesday night, live on Your Site, Devenny is not entertaining claims of burnout around the squad - and makes that case that his side have performed better than results had suggested.
"I wouldn't say the form has been down to fatigue," he tells Your Site. "I almost think if you tell yourself that you're fatigued then you feel that way.
"That's just the mentality of the players, I've not heard anyone complain about the schedule, I've not heard anyone say they're tired. I think for us it's nothing to do with that, and it's maybe just a bit of bad luck.
"Initially after the kind of results we've been getting you're just frustrated, because you know you can do a lot better, but then if you do take a step back and get a better picture, there are still so many positives.
"We have done well, but then that is also where the frustration lies - as much as we're doing well, I think we can be doing better. The opportunities are there and I'd say it's down to small factors, like goals that we shouldn't be conceding which we are currently."
Devenny himself may be fresher than most having made two of his three Premier League starts this season since Boxing Day, in a whirlwind 13 months for the 22-year-old. Since making his Palace league debut in November 2024 he has gone on to lift the FA Cup, score the winning penalty shoot-out in the Community Shield and play - and score - in Europe for the first time.
The pace of change since first linking up with the U21s at Selhurst Park when signed from Scottish League One side Airdrie in 2023 is nothing new to the Northern Ireland international.
He was playing Lowland Football League, the fifth tier of Scottish football, less than two years before joining Palace and his final game before moving south of the border was the Scottish League One play-off for Airdrie. Within 18 months, he was a Premier League footballer - and six later, had his hands on the most prestigious domestic cup in world football.
"Whenever I text my friends, or text the boys I used to play with, they're like, 'God, you're flying, you're doing so well'," he says. "That's just about having that self-belief, and that is so important. I'm loving it here, so hopefully there'll be more opportunities to come.
"I'd say my mentality is strong and I think that's so important. My mum might have driven that into me because she was my football coach when I was younger and she was quite hard on me, and in a good way, because she knew she wanted the best for me and knew there was going to be opportunities there.
"When I first came down to join the U21s, I think it was straight after my first session I was thinking I've got a chance. When I first went into the first team, I did wonder what that was going to be like with the big names at the time, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, but I remember my first training session there and again thinking I'd done well.
"Some of the boys I've played with, who have been similar at levels to me technically, their careers have been a lot different but it's probably down to the mentality, rather than other factors. I just knew if I wanted to be a footballer I needed to give 100 per cent."
Devenny has been somewhat of a utility man in Glasner's midfield this season but has little preference for a settled role in a specific position, despite spending much of his early career as a No 6 before leaving Scotland.
But after scoring his first Premier League goal in more than a year against Leeds in December, he is concentrating on adding more end product to his game as he looks to make the most of the opportunities he is currently being given at Selhurst Park.
"When I'm playing, I need to be providing for the team, scoring, assisting, and I feel like I'm only capable of doing that, and I do believe that my opportunities will come," he says.
"It's just trying to do as much as I can after training and also in games maybe tidying up my game. I feel like sometimes, maybe if I'm not getting as many opportunities I can be hard on myself, because I want to do everything right and then as a result I'm almost doing too much, and trying too hard.
"That's a bit of a focus, not being too hard on myself and when opportunities come just showing my quality, because I do know I've got it and it's just about showing that."
Watch Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa on Your Site+ from 6pm on Wednesday; kick-off 7.30pm.
