Crystal Palace equaliser against Stoke my fault, says Erik Pieters

Stoke defender Erik Pieters admits he was to blame for Crystal Palace's equaliser in the 2-1 defeat at Selhurst Park.

Stoke went ahead when Xherdan Shaqiri scored a fine individual goal in the 56th minute but their lead only last three minutes.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek then tapped in unchallenged at the far post when Andros Townsend's cross evaded the visitors' entire defence and they went on to take all three points after Mamadou Sakho scored in stoppage time.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Pieters is adamant he should have prevented the first goal, and he told the club's official website: "We are a team and we win, draw and lose together, but the first goal was from my mistake and I am honest enough to hold my hands up and acknowledge that.

"We, of course, had enough chances to score more goals, and even though we wouldn't have been happy with the draw we could have accepted it: we simply can't accept this loss."

The result means Stoke remain just three points above the relegation zone but they can put things right with a couple of home games coming up in quick succession.

Pieters added: "The positive thing with the Premier League is that there is always another game around the corner, and thankfully we have two at home, the first being on Wednesday (against Liverpool).

"That is a huge game for us because we need to show our fans that we believe in ourselves, that we believe in the group and we believe in the manager.

"Allowing teams back into games is something the gaffer has spoken about, and the boys have mentioned as a group because on Monday [against Brighton] we also let the lead slip twice."

Stoke will have little time to recover from the Liverpool match before Swansea visit the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.