Crystal Palace have no fears over being dragged into another relegation battle when football returns, despite the enforced hiatus interrupting some fine form.

After a slow start to the calendar year, Roy Hodgson’s side had won three on the bounce and were preparing to visit an ailing Bournemouth when the suspension was announced.

Palace are all but safe from the drop, sitting one point shy of the magic 40 mark, and Dann hopes the Eagles can look upwards when they return to play.

“You can never be sure how many points you’re going to need,” said Dann. “There is always the talk of 40 points which we’re not far off with nine games to go.

“I think with the squad we have and the type of lads we have got hopefully we’ll come back and start to look the other way, rather than worry about what is behind us. See how far we can get up the League, that will be the focus.

“We’re all looking forward to getting back.”

The defender had been in and out of the side across the season but, after the turn of the year, with injuries piling up within Hodgson’s squad, Dann put in a string of superb displays to keep his place in the back four for those three consecutive wins and clean sheets.

“We had a couple of really good performances, different types of performances [against] people in and around us in the League,” said Dann.

“We’ve got a great squad, a mixture of experience – a lot of talent in there. Across the season there hasn’t been many games where we haven’t been at the races, scorelines could have gone either way.

“Those last three games we got a bit of momentum and just when you think you’re going to go for the fourth and the fifth we’re in lockdown. Hopefully when we get back we can pick up where we left off.”