Crystal Palace captain Ward: Hodgson enthusiasm contagious

Crystal Palace captain Joel Ward says manager Roy Hodgson's enthusiasm is great for the players.

Ward admits Hodgson's arrival last season to replace Patrick Vieira was a circuit breaker.

He told the club's website: Roy coming back in gave us that lift and gave us the opportunity to get out of that cycle that was difficult to break.

We went on a great end to the season which any team in the Premier League would have been happy with."

Ward also said of the veteran manager: Football in many ways is a drug.

It's an addiction. It's something that gives people that high. You have to have that passion to do what they have done, to go through it. They have set the standard for people coming through. They have seen so much over the years. They are an example to anyone in management or in football.

It is contagious, their enthusiasm and their dedication. It is something that you feed off and you see that in the way they are, and it rubs off on the players.

It brings continuity and gives us that foundation, which allows us as a group to continue to work together, to continue to move forwards. [The manager] will keep on pushing us. He wants to bring out the best in us, which is a key attribute in everything that he does.

His experience within the game enables him to have a different outlook at times in dealing with certain things. He knows characters inside and out, and he knows how to bring out the best in people. He did that with so many of us in his first period and now again in his second period in charge. We're looking forward to it and we can't wait for this season."