James Tomkins admits that Crystal Palace are in a dogfight heading into the new year and the game against Wolves this evening (Wednesday).
The Eagles head to Molineux just five points above the relegation zone with 18 matches of the campaign remaining, after losing 1-0 at home against Chelsea on Sunday.
And the former West Ham man admits that Palace need to improve as they try to ensure survival and a seventh successive season in the top flight.
"I think it is about consistency," he said.
"I think a few more points on the board is what we need.
"Let&apos;s not shy away from it, we are down there and it is going to be a dogfight. We want to get out of the situation we are in and creep up the table."
Tomkins added that taking four points from a possible nine over the festive period so far was "not a bad return", considering the Eagles have played against Manchester City, Cardiff City and Chelsea.
But he said that Palace were always looking to learn lessons from their matches and improve, adding that the defeat against Chelsea was particularly disappointing for the Eagles.
"If you had asked before, it is not a bad return, but the game at home against Cardiff, you are hoping to get more out of that, for sure," he said.
"It depends what day you get Chelsea. They are capable of a good performance, but we know from beating City away we have the confidence against any team.
"We knew we could have got something if we were on our game, but I don&apos;t think we were [against Chelsea].
"And you need everyone to be on it to beat a team like Chelsea.
"Without creating too much, they managed to score against us, which is bitterly disappointing.
"They didn&apos;t really cause us too much trouble. They dominated possession, which you are expecting with a team like Chelsea, but it is just bitterly disappointing with the manner of the goal we conceded, without them creating too much."
Palace have been good defensively for much of the season so far though, with Tomkins being a key man at the back for Roy Hodgson&apos;s side, who have conceded the fewest number of goals of any side in the bottom half, with 26.
And Tomkins insists that solidity in defence is going to be important in the second half of the campaign.
"It is massively important if you are going to survive in this league, your defensive shape has got to be there.
"We don&apos;t concede many goals and we don&apos;t often lose by many goals, but it is finding that balance and it is that consistency of doing that and scoring at the other end.
"We haven&apos;t done that this season, and hopefully we can do that, starting against Wolves."
However, he says he knows that Wolves will be a difficult team to beat, particularly on their own patch.
And he says Palace must learn from the 1-0 defeat against them back at Selhurst Park in October.
"It will be a tough game, like everyone in the Premier League, they will be a difficult team to play against," Tomkins said.
"When we played them at home, we found them hard to break down and they nicked a goal.
"We go there full of confidence, but knowing that we are playing against a good team."