Midfielder James McArthur wants his Crystal Palace side to start matches on the front-foot following Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal.

The Gunners squandered a lot of chances early on, but did take a 16th minute lead through Oliver Giroud’s sublime finish from Mesut Ozil’s cross.

Palace reacted well and were back on terms 12 minutes later thanks to Joel Ward, who scored his second goal for the club with a lovely drive from the edge of the box.

But Arsenal pilled on the pressure again early in the second half and gained what proved to be their winner when the unfortunate Damien Delaney put into his own net.

And afterwards McArthur admitted Alan Pardew’s men need to show more urgency in the opening exchanges of their matches.

He said: “The second half was better than the first.

“The manager demanded more of us at half-time and we demanded more of ourselves.

“We knew that the first half wasn’t good enough and we upped it in the second.

“But we need to make sure we start better in matches and there will be a lot of emphasis on that in the next match.”

Alexis Sanchez was a constant threat for the visitors and saw three shots blocked, including a strike which McArthur diverted away from the goal-line.

And the Scottish international felt that his side were lucky to go into the break level.

He said: “In the first half we were under a lot of pressure and we felt lucky to go into half-time at 1-1.

“I felt even though we weren’t good enough, we were patient and tried to limit them.

“But I thought we were a lot better in the second half.”

The Eagles only won six games at home last campaign, something they know which must be put right if they are to build on their tenth-placed finish.

And even after defeat in their first match at home, albeit against tough opposition, the former Wigan man is still expecting the Eagles’ form at Selhurst Park to improve during 2015/16.

McArthur added: “We need to get better at home, especially as our form last year was not good enough.

“The pitch is a lot different this year and it’s a nice surface to play football.

“We need to win games here at Selhurst.”