The usually ever-reliable Scott Dann made an unfortunate error on Monday night which allowed Sunderland to leave Selhurst Park with all three points.
Crystal Palace struggled to break down a resolute Sunderland side, and just as it looked as though the game was going to peter out to a 0-0, disaster struck for Dann.
The former Blackburn Rovers defender tried to be a little clever and paid the ultimate price as Jermain Defoe capitalised on the error to slot into an empty net.
Dann admits he should have taken the ‘initiative’ against Sunderland
It was a costly error by Dann, who should have cleared the ball, instead of taking a chance, talking through the goal Dann said: “When he’s played it through, I got the right side of Jermain [Defoe].”
The 28-year-old continued by saying: “I took a lookup and I’ve seen Wayne coming, I made my mind up to get my body in and he’s stopped.
“I should have just took the initiative and cleared it.”
To be fair to Dann, it is only his first major mistake in a Palace shirt, as he has hardly put a foot wrong since arriving when Tony Pulis was in charge. And with many pundits and fans believing he should get a chance at international level – hopefully, this error won’t decrease his chances of possibly getting picked for Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016 campaign.
Dann finished by saying: “We’ve ended up losing the game because of it, so it’s disappointing personally and as a team. We’re disappointed we haven’t got anything out of the game.”
Next up for Dann and Palace is a visit from Alan Pardew’s former club Newcastle United; Dann will hoping the side can move on from the disappointment of Monday evening.