Roy Hodgson defends under-fire Jordan Ayew

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has spoken out in favour of under-fire Ghana forward Jordan Ayew ahead of the winter transfer window.

Ayew has failed to hit the back of the twine since joining the Eagles on a season-long loan from Swansea City in the summer.

The former Olympique Marseille marksman underwhelming performances has consequently led to his bench-warming role in the side.

Reports in the UK indicate that the London-based outfit are looking to delve into the market in the January transfer window to purchase another striker to replace the Ghanaian.

However, Palace manager Hodgson has jumped to the defence of the beleaguered Ghana international whom he believes has done fairly well anytime he's been called upon.

"To be fair, Jordan Ayew hasn't done badly at all," Hodgson said, as quoted by Football.London.

"He has done well in the games and Alex Sorloth is coming back into some sort of form. So, at least, this year there are bodies and people competing for those places."

"This time last year, we didn't have that, and we were desperate to do something in the January transfer window because we had a shortage of forward players.

"That is no longer the case, but it is important of course for the guys at the front of our attack who will be getting the goal chances, it is important that they do start to convert those chances into goals."

"The facts are there starkly in front of us to tell me we are not scoring enough goals. It is not because we are not creating goal chances, but we haven’t been as good in front of goal as we would all like.'

"If we will bring in other strikers, I think it will depend on what happens with the players returning from injury," he added.

Ayew was an unused substitute when Palace beat Burnley 2-0 on Saturday to end their run of seven games without a win in the Premier League.