by George Jones

Crystal Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni believes the Eagles’ squad reaped the benefits of visiting Wembley prior to yesterday’s play-off triumph over Watford.

The occasion can often get the better of teams at the national stadium but Palace visited the ground 24 hours before yesterday’s win and Speroni thinks that it made all the difference.

He said: “We came here on Sunday and looked around the whole stadium – I had never been here before.

“We went onto the pitch, took photos and went inside the dressing rooms which was great because it meant that yesterday was just about the game.

“We could fully concentrate on our football and it worked.

“We knew it was going to be tough, it was a 50-50 game, we had a game plan and we stuck to it.

“The whole day was special.”

Ian Holloway’s men dominated for long stages of the afternoon but were kept at bay by former Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.

The Spaniard made three exquisite second-half saves from Aaron Wilbraham before Kevin Phillips dispatched the 105th minute penalty to send Palace into the Premier League for the first time in eight seasons.

And Speroni admitted that he had some sympathy for his opposite number.

“He made some great saves today, to be honest I was disappointed that we didn’t win with the 90 minutes but he did really well,” said the Argentinian.

He added: “It means a lot to me to be in the Premier League, it has been a long time coming.”

With the tie locked at stalemate, Wilfried Zaha went down, to win their decisive penalty, under a challenge from Hornets defender Marco Cassetti.

Phillips tucked it away which meant that Zaha’s last appearance for Palace resulted in promotion and Speroni, Palace’s longest serving player, will be sad to see their star winger leave south London.

“It will be sad to see him go but it is a great opportunity for him at Man Utd and we all wish him the very best,” said the stopper.

“It is going to be weird be on the other team to him after playing with him for so many years but he really deserves it.”

On Phillips’ penalty he added: “When he took the penalty I did not think that there was anybody better to have taken it. There is no one better under pressure and he proved it again.

“We knew it was possible that the game may have gone to penalties, we practised them during the week, just in case, but I’m glad it did not get to that stage. I think we were the better team and deserved to win. 

“We will now have some time to celebrate and then we will concentrate on the next season.”