CHERRIES defender Lloyd Kelly understands why people may accuse his side of ‘being on the beach’.

Kelly and co. went into their contest at Selhurst Park requiring one more point to make their Premier League survival a mathematical certainty.

Whilst they did not find the required point, losing 2-0 to Palace, their place in next season’s Premier League was confirmed by Everton’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

Asked how he felt about the suggestion of his side losing motivation following all but securing survival, Kelly told BBC Radio Solent: “Of course they can throw accusations at us. It's football, and you're going to get that.

“But I think at the end of the day - although you could say we're safe now - every game we go into from now until the end of the season, the two left that we have, we have to put in a performance.”

It was the second time Cherries were defeated 2-0 by the Eagles this season, with Gary O’Neil’s charges failing to impress in either game.

Kelly mused: “I think coming away from that game is a difficult one, really.

“Of course, we set out to come here and get a point, or even three, just put in a good performance and see where that got us.

“So coming away from the game with nothing and conceding two goals, which I think in the overall scheme of things, we could have avoided. It’s difficult.

“I think it's a difficult one to explain, really.

“Of course, you can talk about the tactics and what we can do with the ball and things like that, but I think at the end of the day, it just comes down to if you're willing to run.

“And I think we were second best in that today.

“They’ve got quality going forward. Coming into the game, everyone knew of that.

“We've seen it throughout the season from them.

“Their attacking players can create things out of nothing, and we needed to be at our best to avoid conceding those goals.

“And I think that's where we slipped up a little bit.”