He may be focused on the FA Cup final, but Scott Dann cannot help thinking about the potential of European football at Selhurst Park.

Crystal Palace will qualify for next season’s Europa League if they beat Manchester United in Saturday’s final.

And although the newly-crowned players’ player of the year would be happy enough simply winning the cup, Europe holds a big appeal.

“To win the cup would be an amazing achievement, personally, as a squad, as fans,” he said.

“The way this club has been going, certainly for the two and a half years I’ve been here, the fans deserve something special like that, hopefully we can do it for ourselves and for them.

“But just thinking about European nights at Selhurst Park, with the type of following we’ve got, there wouldn’t be a better place to play.

“The atmosphere would be unbelievable.”

He added: “To get that we’ve got to make sure we win the FA Cup and that’s our sole focus at the moment.”

Dann was at Birmingham City when they beat Arsenal in the Carling Cup final in 2011, but he missed out on the Wembley final through injury.

And the centre-back admitted Saturday will feel totally different when he finally gets to line up in a final.

“Although we won that day, and I ended up with a medal having played every round before that, it’s still not the same.

“Having played in the semi-final against Watford, you can feel the difference.

“When we walk out I’m going to feel that it’s totally different.”

He added: “It was nice to win with Birmingham, but when you’re not on the pitch it just doesn’t feel the same.

“Hopefully I can play my part in winning come Saturday.”

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