Wilfried Zaha says Crystal Palace have worked on being clinical in front of goal over the winter break, but that they still have more to do.
The Palace forward bagged a brace to help the south Londoners beat Real Valladolid 2-1 on Friday evening, saying he felt the team could have killed the game earlier.
Speaking with Palace TV, Zaha said: "It’s weird considering the talent we have, the dribblers we have. In the final half we just need to be more clinical.
"I feel like that’s things the gaffer has worked on throughout the time we had away in Turkey. So getting a win today is definitely going to give us confidence going into our first game back.
"I wasn’t happy with the first-half and definitely made it known when we went inside. But I’m glad we went back out there and changed things up a bit and pressed them properly. I’m happy to end with a win, we deserved it."
Zaha netted a penalty to seal the victory, striking confidently down the middle after miscuing against Botafogo earlier in the month. He said he wouldn't entertain passing on the responsibility: "That’s not me, man. I couldn’t do that.
"What kind of chicken am I?! No, man. I’ll miss [at times] but at the end of the day I’m man enough to stand up and take it again and just have to make sure I score. Today I’m happy I did, so the gaffer has a decision now – either he keeps me on or he doesn’t! I think he should after I scored today."
Finally, with Patrick Vieira revealing the squad are in for more double training sessions after two weeks' worth already, Zaha reflected on a demanding period for the squad.
With a laugh, he said: "It has been [hard work], it definitely has been. It is what it is, I’m not going to complain. I complain enough off the camera! It is what it is and it’s making a difference to the team."
