Ex-Lion Alan Dunne still remembers mind games with Wilf Zaha – and how pre-match comments piled pressure on himself

Alan Dunne can still vividly recall Millwall’s last skirmish with Crystal Palace. And that was partly to do with his pre-match comments helping add extra edge to the derby.

The Eagles head to The Den on January 8 with a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup at stake. It will be Palace’s first time back in SE16 since they were promoted from the Championship in the 2012-13 season.

Dunne has no recollection of the 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park in October 2012 which had nine bookings as well as Dean Moxey sent off for two cautionable offences.

It comes as absolutely no surprise that Dunne, sent off a club record 10 times for the Lions and booked 85 times, found his way into Phil Dowd’s notebook.

In fact Dunne and Wilfried Zaha, then an outstanding and exciting prospect who had lit up the league, were cautioned in both matches.

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish had exclusively told the South London Press that the winger was valued at £20million ahead of the 2013 January transfer window.

Zaha ended up joining Manchester United, who paid £10m up front with an extra £5m in add-ons. Crucially he was loaned back to the Eagles for the remainder of that campaign.

“Zaha was being valued at £20million and I did an interview for radio and said that I didn’t value him at that,” said Dunne.

“There was a lot of build-up to that game between me and him. It was the main headline in the press and then the Palace fans jumped on it.

“If you’re going to open your mouth then you’ve got to back it up a little bit. I was backed into a corner – I didn’t want him to embarrass me and he is a player that has got it all. He’s exceptional. We knew at the time how good he was and that he had the potential to play at the top level.

“I had to think outside the box for that game. He’s got pace, he’s direct and can go both ways with either foot. I played the old school way by upsetting his rhythm and not letting him build up confidence – banging him early. I had to disrupt his momentum.

“If you give him space and time on the ball in one-v-one situations then he is going to hurt you. You’ve got to think about your strengths.

“He was up against me in that game. I knew there were going to be bookings, for sure.

“I kept him quiet in the game. There’s been a bit of banter since than that I had him in my pocket. It was all a bit panto.

“Kenny Jackett did the foreword in my book and he remembered that as a standout game for me.”

Dunne played 388 matches for Millwall. Zaha is Palace’s all-time record Premier League appearance holder – scoring 52 goals in 261 top-flight outings.

“I verbally had a bit with him and tried to put him off his game,” said Dunne. “It was my way of trying to get one up on him, because of how talented he was.

“An early booking can sometimes help you because they know that you’re serious.

“The first couple of tackles are so important so that you don’t get sent off but also let them know ‘if you run at me with that ball you’re going to get hurt’. But I mean that in the right way’.

“It was literally a bit of speech play in the first five minutes: ‘Wilf, when you get the ball mate I’m going to get an early booking. So make sure you pass it’. It was all in good heart. I loved those duels and I miss them.

“The bookings were for a coming together. I grabbed his shirt and wouldn’t let go. Then he was trying to grab me. It was handbags. It was a way to interrupt his in-game mentality. It wasn’t malicious. I wouldn’t let go of his shirt, he lost it and tried to swing to get me off him. It was nothing really.”

Dunne has maximum respect for the Palace icon.

“He’s had a fantastic career,” said the former Lions full-back, now assistant manager at National League side Bromley.

“You have to give credit to players who can play at that level week in and week out – and sustain it.

“I’ve wished him all the best. I’ve got nothing but admiration for him as a player. He went on to Manchester United. To play even one game at United is a boy’s dream. He’s still playing in the Premier League – a superb talent.”

Dunne tweeted his excitement after the two clubs were paired together in the FA Cup – along with an image of him going shoulder to shoulder with Zaha.

He said: “I remember playing at Palace and the atmosphere was like a game in Italy. Incredible.

“I wasn’t the fans’ favourite there having been at Millwall so long. There were a few chants winding me up, but it was part of the panto.

“I loved the rivalry between the two clubs. It’s what football is about – derby games and two clubs going against each other for bragging rights.

“That was always drummed into the players. I had come through the youth system at Millwall, so you get it. It drives you.”

Dunne found Zaha’s Palace team-mate Yannick Bolasie more “difficult” to contain.

He added: “[Adel] Taarabt was a genie on the ball – really, really clever. I played against Gareth Bale when he made his debut against Southampton and Theo Walcott.

“I probably got on top of most of them.”

“I’ve had a few people ask me to get my boots on for the Palace match but, at 39, I think Zaha would come out on top in this one.”

PICTURES: BRIAN TONKS