Alan Pardew fears he will not be sleeping easy in his bed this week despite a 3-0 victory over Southampton which appeared to save him, temporarily at least, from speculation that he is on the verge of being sacked.

Six Premier League defeats in a row, including a 5-4 reverse at Swansea City, had left the Crystal Palace manager facing difficult questions over his future in a week when chairman Steve Parish and American investors David Blitzer and Josh Harris were due to discuss his progress.

Three points later, and with record summer signing Christian Benteke scoring two of them, the situation looks very different, not least because the result moved Palace up to 13th in the table.

The good news for Pardew is that bookmakers have already lengthened odds that Roy Hodgson or Sam Allardyce could take over at Selhurst Park before Christmas. The bad news is that an away trip to Hull City, a banana skin fixture if ever there was one, is up next followed by difficult home games against Manchester United and Chelsea, so perhaps it is no surprise the former Newcastle United manager is refusing to accept he is safe.

"You have to face the sack every week in this job,” he said. “When I was manager of Southampton, I won 4-0 and I still got the sack. What I say is always expect the sack, that’s the reality in this market and this world. So don't think I'm sleeping comfortable at night. I'll go to bed thinking about Hull."

Even so, Pardew gave his chairman the thumbs up after his side produced a measured and efficient performance to beat the Saints, with defender James Tomkins also scoring in a match which saw Palace win for the first time in eight games and record their first clean sheet in the Premier League since April.

It was Parish who defended his manager in talks with the club’s American investors, easing fears that the board would make changes.

Pardew was also backed by the club’s new investors in the transfer market last summer, spending £27m on striker Benteke from Liverpool, and the Belgian star certainly repaid a chunk of that fee on Saturday.

“I was really pleased with him,” said Pardew. “ I think when you've got the profile he has and the money we've spent on him it would be easy to look around the team and say 'what's going on?' or think, 'I'm the man'. But he didn't. He played like he was a young 18-year-old I'd just put in the team. He ran everything down, chased and harried - and he got two goals, too. So I was absolutely delighted for him.”

James Tomkins celebrates scoring his side's second with Christian Benteke (Getty)

Meanwhile, Southampton goalkeeper Forster has apologised for the mistake which cost his side so dearly when he air-kicked a back-pass to hand Benteke the opening goal on a plate at Selhurst Park.