Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has admitted that the Cape Town Cup has come a little too early in the Eagles pre-season programme.

Palace take on Supersport United this afternoon (Friday), with the winner facing either Sporting Lisbon or Ajax Cape Town in Sunday’s final.

The Premier League season kicks-off on August 8 against Norwich City, and Pardew is hoping that his Eagles will be ready to hit the ground running.

However, Pardew reckons the side is not yet firing on all cylinders, although winning the cup is high on his agenda.

“I’m expecting it to be a tough tournament for us because we’re not quite up to speed, but we’ve brought everybody here and we want to try and win the competition,” he said.

“It’ll be good for us to gauge ourselves against top South African opposition and obviously Sporting Lisbon are a good side if they get to the final.

“We’re an exciting team to watch so hopefully we’ll bring that to the tournament. It’s a little bit too early for us yet but we should be at a good level.”

He added: “The stadium and the pitch is marvellous and the groundsmen have done a fantastic job so we’ve got nothing to worry about there, it’s as good as the Premier League.

“They’re conditions for us to showcase the talent that we have and we want to do honour to the tournament by playing as well as we can.”