Roy Hodgson says Crystal Palace must stay realistic ahead of a daunting fixture run.
The Eagles are sixth on the Premier League table heading into the international thanks to Saturday's win over West Ham United.
They will face Manchester City, Arsenal, Leicester City and Chelsea in their next four games.
"Things will change," Hodgson said. "I still fully believe in a championship being a marathon race. It's nice to start reasonably well and be up with the front runners, but you know you've got to keep up that pace and one of the things we don't have is a big squad.
"But if we can keep our heads above water and get to January I hope we can do something about that."
