Frank overjoyed at mentality of battling Bees - Vieira insists relegation not a worry for Eagles
Thomas Frank hailed his players for digging in when all looked lost - as they extended their unbeaten league run to 11 thanks to a Vitaly Janelt header in the final act of injury time.
The Bees were far from their best and looked to heading for defeat after Ebe Eze had scored for Palace in Saturday's clash at the Gtech. But they managed to get out of jail at the very last.
"This group of players is remarkable," said the Bees' boss. "Top characters and personalities. I'm so pleased with the comeback. And us being in this position, 11 games unbeaten, is just incredible.
"I said to them before the game that the culture or mentality of the team - whatever you want to call it - I can push that with my staff up to 85, maybe 90 per cent, but the last 10 most important percentage for a top performing team needs to come from within the players - and we have some players that are driving that.
"This is a very good example on a day where I don't think we performed well. Average against a team that is good. Maybe it was just a day where we didn't hit the highest level. I think we played slow in moments. Too many touches and not many top-performances. That can happen.
"But the energy, the spirit and mentality since they went 1-0 up was very good and the five subs made an impact.
"Had I given up? No, never."
For Patrick Vieira, this was a hard one to take as his Eagles side finally looked set for a first win since New Year's Eve.
"We had our chances and of course when we scored that first goal, and defended the way we did today, you expect to take those three points, but we knew that every time they had a chance to put the ball inside the box, it was going to be a danger," said the Palace boss.
"I think we managed those situations really well until the last minute of the game.
"It's the frustration that I have at the moment. I think that in a lot of the games that we've played lately, what we are missing is those three points. The performances, the organisation was quite good but at the end we're missing something to take those three points.
"It was a collective problem. The decision-making when we had the ball. It is important, when we are leading, to make better decisions. I think we had situations where we didn't make the right decision in the offensive transition and I think at the moment, as well, we are a little bit unlucky.
"But it's important for us to keep our head up keep working and try to do turn things around."
Palace are now without a win in eight, but Vieira insists a relegation battle is not in his thoughts.
"I was not worried before the game and I'm not more worried after the game," he said. "Our main focus is about the way we perform and how we can improve."
