Brighton & Hove Albion 0-0 Crystal Palace

Christian Benteke made his first start for Crystal Palace since the end of September

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson says his side can take belief from their first point away from home after a goalless draw with Brighton.

Before this stalemate the Eagles had lost all six of their previous matches away from Selhurst Park without scoring and conceded 13 goals.

"We will take a lot of confidence," Hodgson said.

"A clean sheet is good because we haven't had too many of those. We had some good spells and a draw is a fair result.

"Keeping a clean sheet is a bigger bonus than a 1-1 or 2-2."

Palace's Wayne Hennessey was the busier of the two goalkeepers in a match which had few clear-cut chances.

The Wales international saved well from Jose Izquierdo and Pascal Gross in the first half, while former Palace striker Glenn Murray saw a late header cleared off the line.

Palace's best chance came early in the game when Brighton goalkeeper Mathew Ryan made a fine double save from Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha.

Brighton slip down to 10th spot in the Premier League table while Palace remain bottom.

Reaction to Tuesday's Premier League matches

Finally reward for Palace on the road

This was the first time in 36 years that this derby rivalry of quirk rather than geography had been played in the top flight.

Palace fans set off smoke bombs and bangers as the atmosphere crackled at the Amex, but the action on the pitch lacked the same intensity.

A largely scrappy match, which had only fleeting moments of quality, almost inevitably ended in stalemate given the caution with which it was approached.

However, Palace manager Roy Hodgson will not care one iota.

His side's record away from Selhurst Park is abysmal but finally there is something for Palace's players and fans to cling on to - a precious point.

Palace had already equalled the club record for the longest run of away defeats from the beginning of a top-flight campaign, first set in 1980-81.

Hodgson's side were disciplined and organised at the Amex, however, and fully deserved their point.

Dunk oozes class at the back

Lewis Dunk's team-mates and manager have talked up his England credentials this season and the centre-back showed his quality against Palace.

The 26-year-old read the game well, showed excellent composure on the ball and was a commanding physical presence.

Palace recalled Benteke to their starting line-up, but Dunk quickly got the measure of the Belgium international.

He also posed a threat at the other end of the pitch, with a header from a corner in the first half saved by Hennessey.

A booking for a tug on Zaha's shirt in the second half was the only blot on the Brighton-born defender's copybook.

Liverpool's attacking triumvirate of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah will pose more of a test at the weekend.

However, on this form England manager Gareth Southgate could do worse than take a look at Dunk in March's friendlies against Italy and Holland.

Man of the match - Mamadou Sakho

After such a poor run away from home, Crystal Palace's defence have taken plenty of criticism this season. France centre-back Mamadou Sakho's impressive display the heart of the Eagles' defence ensured they kept their first clean sheet away from Selhurst Park and only their second in all competitions.

'It wasn't going to be rumbustious' - what they said

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson: "Both teams tried to play the game they wanted to play. Chris and myself made it a clear that it was a game played in the head not the heart.

"It wasn't going to be a rumbustious game with people flying into each other. That's not the way either side play.

"Christian Benteke did well for us. He is still feeling his way after such a long lay-off. We hope he will get stronger and stronger and hopefully the team will be more clinical in the final third."

Brighton boss Chris Hughton: "We have to ask did we play well enough to win the game? Probably not. But neither did they. So it's a fair result.

"We had some good opportunities but the longer it went on, the way it went, it was going to be a stalemate, and you felt maybe it would be a set-piece or a mistake that would settle it.

"It was a nervous game and didn't have the flow. Maybe not the style that you would expect a derby to have."

The stats - Palace finally keep a clean sheet

• This was Crystal Palace's first Premier League clean sheet this season; they are last of the 20 sides in the division to achieve a shut-out.

• However, Palace have failed to find the net in nine consecutive away Premier League games.

• Roy Hodgson's side have now failed to score in each of their opening seven away league games of the season. Only Derby County (eight games in 2007/08) have had a longer wait for an away goal at the start of a Premier League campaign.

• Brighton have never lost a top-flight match against Crystal Palace, conceding just three goals in the five meetings at this level (W3 D2).

• Christian Benteke has now gone 10 Premier League games without a goal; he has only gone longer without scoring in the competition once before in January 2014 while at Aston Villa.

What next?

Roy Hodgson returns to former club West Brom, who are also struggling near the bottom of the Premier League, on Saturday as Crystal Palace face the Baggies at The Hawthorns in a 15:00 GMT kick-off. At the same time, Brighton have another home game, with Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool the visitors to the Amex.