Yannick Bolasie has opened up about his “difficult” period on the sidelines after Crystal Palace’s FA Cup fifth round win over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

Martin Kelly scored his first goal for the club on the stroke of half time, eventually proving enough to see Palace set up a quarter-final clash with Reading.

Prior to a substitution appearance at White Hart Lane, Bolasie had not featured since picking up a leg injury just before Christmas.

His final appearance was in the 2-1 win at Stoke City, which happens to be the last time Palace won a Premier League game.

Bolasie admitted it has been a tough spell on the sidelines, but now he is looking forward rather than back.

He said: “It’s been difficult at times. You get lots of people that know you sending you text messages saying ‘What’s going on at Palace?’ “You don’t really want to talk, you’re almost hibernating. But it’s part of football.”

Bolasie’s late cameo almost brought a second goal as he teed up Connor Wickham to slot home after an explosive counter-attack, only for the striker to be ruled offside.

Despite the decision, Palace saw out their narrow win without being bombarded with pressure, which Bolasie believes has given the Eagles, and himself, confidence.

“I was unfortunate not to get an assist today, but I’m really looking forward to ending the season and finishing really strong,” he added.

“Everyone’s coming away really happy and we could have won by more to be honest ahead of the West Brom and Sunderland games.

“I’ve got no reason not to feel confident. I’ve scored against West Brom this season, I scored a hat-trick against Sunderland.”

The 26-year-old also revealed manager Alan Pardew had been right to keep him on the bench after a long spell out.

Asked whether he should have started, Bolasie joked: “No, I would have been breathing out my a**e to be honest.”

Bolasie also explained his ‘selfie’ pose with the away support after the game.

“I was showing an appreciation for the fans, they’ve supported me while I’ve been injured,” he said.

Palace now face Reading at the Madejski stadium in the quarter-final in March.

And Bolasie will be especially looking forward to the tie in a bid to earn the appearance at Wembley he missed out on last time.

“I didn’t get a chance to play at Wembley in the play-offs and I think that’s one of the things that hurt me the most but it also pushed me on,” he said.

“Hopefully we can make it there.”