Connor Wickham: Watford goal 'angered me' into equaliser

Crystal Palace striker Connor Wickham says his winning goal came from the anger of seeing Watford equalise in Sunday’s Emirates FA Cup semi-final.

The former England Under-21 international headed Alan Pardew’s side into their first FA Cup Final since 1990 in the second half, having seen Watford captain Troy Deeney cancel out Yannick Bolasie’s opener six minutes earlier.

And Wickham was quick to hold his hand up and admit that Deeney’s goal came after he had previously lost possession.

"If you go way back to where I lost the ball, their goal was my fault and that's how they got up the pitch," he told FATV after the game.

"[Scott] Dannsy got booked and then they got the corner from that and scored – so it angered me a bit and maybe gave me a kick to go on and score that goal

"It meant so much to me and the fans and you can see what it means to the boys as well."

Palace will now head back to Wembley for The Final on Saturday 21 May when they will face Manchester United, ironically their opponents the last time they reached this stage 26 years ago.

And the ex-Ipswich Town and Sunderland man is hoping that the experience gained from winning under the Arch in the semi-final can help them when they return next month.

"It's fantastic and the boys have performed brilliantly today so we need to take this positive energy into our games in the league and then come back at the end of the season and hopefully do it again," he added.

"The atmosphere in there [dressing room] is unbelievable and it's something which I've never experienced before - coming to Wembley for such a big and high profile game.

"To score the winner, on a personal level, is unbelievable and hopefully we can recreate that situation when we come back here next month.

"I think I owed it to the team, as I've been out for a long time and there's been criticism of goals, but we've just done it on the biggest stage and at the biggest stadium."

Watch the full interview with Wickham and fellow Palace goalscorer Yannick Bolasie in the video player below.