Roy Hodgson has claimed it is "quite amazing" that Crystal Palace are able to compete with the biggest clubs despite the gulf in resources.
Of the current sides in the Premier League, Palace sit 15th in terms of net spend over the past five years, but have established themselves as a top-flight side are now in their 11th consecutive season at the top table of English football.
The club have finished between 10th and 15th in each of those campaigns and find themselves firmly in mid-table again this season, having beaten Manchester United at Old Trafford and pushed both Arsenal and Tottenham close on home soil.
Hodgson, who returned to Selhurst Park last season for a second spell following Patrick Vieira's departure, believes it is a huge achievement for clubs like Palace to be competitive in the Premier League.
"I think it's quite amazing that we as a football club - and we're not alone, I put other clubs in the category - can compete as well as we do in what has become a very uneven playing field," the 76-year-old told the FYP Podcast.
"Because so many teams above us are able to go out and scour Europe, scour the continent, scour Africa for the best players."
Palace's recruitment under sporting director Dougie Freedman has been impressive in recent seasons, with Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi among the first-teams stars who will bring in huge profit should they be sold. All three have seen their stock rise significantly since making the move to Selhurst Park.
Hodgson pointed to the significance of improving players through coaching in the absence of being able to compete with bigger clubs in the transfer market, using Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai as an example.
"There's no prizes for working out that Szoboszlai is a good player," Hodgson said. "You'd have to be living on another player if you were looking for a midfield player and hadn't thought of Szoboszlai.
"But the fact is only certain clubs could get that player. So we have to accept to work hard with the ones we've got to try and get them to reach the best level they can, and compete at an equal level with these players.
"That's what Palace have done for a number of years, it's what Palace will continue to do."
