Alan Pardew does not know why Crystal Palace fell short for the second successive Premier League home game.

Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Hull City at Selhurst Park followed hot on the heels of a 2-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion the weekend before.

Victory over the relegation-threatened Tigers would have lifted the Eagles into the top half of the table, but a second half brace from Dame N’Doye sealed the points for former Palace boss Steve Bruce – his first maximum points haul in six games.

Moreover, Pardew’s lacklustre men could only muster three shots on target and not even one corner.

The closest Palace came to scoring came early, but Glenn Murray’s sixth minute effort was saved at point-blank range by Steve Harper.

There was one highlight however, being the debut of South Korean international Chung-yong Lee, the January transfer window signing from Bolton, who has recovered from a broken leg - but it was his misplaced pass which led to the second Hull goal in the 92nd minute.

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Debut: South Korean international Chung-yong Lee

Pardew said: “We weren’t at it against Hull as we have been - we struggled to deliver, but we’ll address that in our way.

“It’s hard to say what was missing [from the performance], but the midfield and forward line were not quite as we liked.”

The game saw Joel Ward miss his first game of the Premier League season after being ruled out pre-match with a shin injury and Pardew admitted he was a factor in the defeat.

“Without Wardy we missed a bit of quality from the back,” he said.

“Fingers crossed he will be ready for Chelsea. He is an important player for us and has had a great season - he was a loss for us today.”