Zaha savours Palace pressure pot

WILFRIED ZAHA says he is thriving at Crystal Palace, thanks to the pressure put on him by Patrick Vieira.

The Eagles boss enjoys making a joke at the expense of Zaha during training but, on matchday, he expects the very best from Palace’s talisman.

Zaha has been relieved of some of the defensive duties placed on him by former Palace boss Roy Hodgson, as Vieira looks to make the most of his attacking talent.

The 29-year-old has four goals and one assist in 11 Premier League games so far this season and is relishing the challenges laid down by Arsenal legend Vieira — who Zaha idolised as a boyhood Gunners fan.

“There is so much you can take from him,” said

Zaha. “It is different when you’ve actually seen them play because you buy into what they say more.

“It’s like they understand the game, they’ve done it before. I can learn so much from him.

“[Our relationship] is very good. He is very chilled, loves a joke and tries to pick on me a lot.

“Our relationship is very good off the pitch and I know that he is very demanding of me on the pitch, so I try to do my best. Am I improving? Yeah, because I feel the pressure to do more and to do better because he expects more from me.

“I feel like I perform better under pressure because if I’m just easy then things start to go a bit pear-shaped because I don’t put that pressure on myself.

“Every day he is demanding more and more from me.

“Sometimes it is annoying but he wants the best for me so I am trying to do my best.”

The Eagles are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League games ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Aston Villa, who claimed a 2-0 win over Brighton last weekend in Steven Gerrard’s first game in charge.

“They are all going to be pushing to impress, we’ve got to expect a first half of energy,” said Zaha, whose side are 10th in the table.

“We’ve got to ride that wave and see the game through.”