Alan Pardew 'still dreaming of FA Cup glory'

Alan Pardew has twice suffered the heartache of losing FA Cup finals, once as a player and again as a manager.

On both occasions his teams were close to lifting the trophy, only for late goals by Mark Hughes and Steven Gerrard to shatter his dream.

First, as a Palace player, he was seven minutes away from helping the Eagles claim the trophy only for Hughes to score the equaliser as Manchester United drew 3-3.

Five days later Lee Martin netted the only goal in the Wembley replay as Alex Ferguson secured his first trophy as manager of Manchester United in 1990.

And 16 years later it was déjà vu when Pardew managed West Ham in the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Once again the match ended 3-3, with Gerrard firing a last-minute leveller with one of the greatest ever FA Cup final goals. The Reds went on to win on penalties.

On Sunday, he will name his Palace side to face Tottenham at White Hart Lane with a spot in the quarter-finals beckoning.

Pardew says: "I still have the goal to win this competition. I was a few minutes away from winning it with Palace at 3-2, and we ended up drawing. Then a replay!

"West Ham, 90 minutes and the game almost won apart from one magical moment. So I have been very, very close, perhaps even should have won it in extra-time.

"So I do think it owes me a little bit. I am going to go back and win it one day, hopefully.

"The draw can be important and does play a role and we were hoping for a better draw than we got against Spurs. It wasn't what we wanted."

Palace last won a Premier League game on December 19, but have since knocked out two top tier teams in the cup - Southampton and Stoke.

I do think it owes me a little bit. I am going to go back and win it one day, hopefully.

The 54-year-old signed Emmanuel Adebayor in January and Pardew hopes the former Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham forward will prove to be a good purchase.

He added: "I like to think I am old and wise enough to try and get Ade in a position where I am getting the best out of him.

"Some mavericks you can lose, sometimes it gets away from you and it becomes problematic. Hatem Ben Arfa up at Newcastle became impossible.

"It hasn't happened many times in my career and I don't think it will happen with Ade.

"He doesn't strike me as that type, he strikes me as a player that needs to have faith. I am expressing that to him at this time because I do believe in him.

"I like big players, big characters. They don't scare me, they don't frighten me. He doesn't scare me. I really like him. I think he is a good guy and he does some good things that don't get talked about."