Crystal Palace forward Jordan Ayew has blamed their 2-1 Premier League defeat against Leicester City on a slow start at King Power Stadium on Sunday.
The Eagles headed into the game having won their last fixture 3-0 against Arsenal but they found themselves trailing in the 39th minute when Nigeria international Ademola Lookman scored for the Foxes after being teed up by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Dewsbury-Hall then doubled the lead in the 45th minute before Ivory Coast international Wilfried Zaha reduced the deficit from the penalty spot in the 65th minute after Ayew was fouled by Youri Tielemans.
The Ghana international thinks Palace were undone after conceding two first-half goals.
“I feel like we didn’t start the game well. It was all about the start... We paid the price and conceded two goals,” Ayew told reporters after the game as quoted by the club’s official website.
“In the second-half we were the much better team. We didn’t give up, we pushed, but we didn’t manage to come back which is the most important thing. It’s a wake-up call for us to know the importance for us to have a really good start of the game and to build on that.
“The most important thing is it happened now and not against Chelsea. Now we have one week to prepare for Chelsea and we’ll do the best we can.
“That’s the message from the manager and it was quite simple and short: it’s a good wake-up call and we prepare ourselves for the next game the best we can.”
Ayew has further described the result as "a wake-up call" as they prepare to face Chelsea in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
“It’s a wake-up call, so we need to be consistent and need to work on that. That’s what we’re trying to do; we’ve come out of a very good run and this is a wake-up call,” Ayew continued.
“The most important thing is it happened today, not next week, so we can build on this and know it’s important to have a good start to the game.”
The former Swansea City player also dwelled on the penalty, insisting it was well-deserved and that Zaha did well to score from the retake.
“I think I just did a stepover and he [Youri Tielemans] went and put his leg and caught me. It’s as simple as that,” added Ayew.
“The most important thing is he scored – that’s the most important thing and there’s nothing to complain about. He did the most important thing: put it in the back of the net.”
The Cup fixture against Chelsea will be played at Wembley Stadium on April 17.