Kevin Phillips was the calmest man inside Wembley on Monday when he stepped up to take the penalty that took Crystal Palace to the Premier League.

After Marco Cassetti felled Wilfried Zaha in the box, veteran striker Phillips held off Andre Moritz to take the spot kick and fire it brilliantly into the top corner to seal a 1-0 extra time win over Watford that ended the Eagles' eight-year exile from the top flight.

Remarkably, Phillips was the one Palace player who had not been practising spot kicks in training.

"The lads have been practising them all week but I don't believe in practising them as it is a different thing when you have 35,000 people booing at you," he said.

"I was speaking to Damien Delaney and he was desperate to take one if it went to penalties, he was practising left right and centre and I would just sit down and watch them.

"I have taken that many over the years I knew how different Monday would be.

"As soon as the penalty was given I just felt confident. I wanted it.

"Andre was trying to talk me out of it but there was no chance, I was having it and I told him to go away.

"I tried to draw on all of my experience over the last 20 years. Just get in your mind where you want to go and hit it as hard as you can and hopefully the keeper won't have a chance.

"Normally, you have a knot of nerves in you but I didn't for some reason. Maybe that's because there were 35,000 Watford fans booing me, that spurred me on."

For 39-year-old Phillips, promotion in a play-off final added another notch to his 20-year-old football career bedpost.

"This has just topped my career," he added.

"I have pretty much achieved everything I wanted to achieve. I have won the League Cup, a major honour, I have won promotions, the Golden Boot, I have played for my country, I have had relegations but I have never had promotion by a play-off.

"They tell you it is the best way to get promoted and believe me it is, it's fantastic."