Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis has claimed that his side are being shown more respect by the Premier League's leading clubs.
The Eagles won only one of their opening 10 league fixtures of the season, but since the arrival of Pulis they have enhanced their hopes of survival and have risen to 16th in the table.
"We have done absolutely fantastic but you have to understand and realise and recognise people are starting to show us a little bit more credence and respect," The Express quotes him as saying.
"So when teams start doing that it becomes difficult again. We had this at Stoke. We were going to be the whipping boys and then we turned that around.
"I think that Manchester United showed that on Saturday. The team that they picked against us was probably the strongest team he had picked all year and that might not have happened two months ago."
Crystal Palace visit Swansea City in the Premier League on Sunday.
Alex Meyers
