Crystal Palace fullback Patrick van Aanholt admits he considered a return to Holland in January.

However, the defender says the domination of artificial pitches in the country turned him off.

"Last January I was in a slump, I did not really play a lot," explained Van Aanholt in the online program In the car with Andy.

"Marcel Brands (then technical manager of PSV) and Marc Overmars (director of of Ajax) spoke with me. They both were looking for a left back."

Van Aanholt thought about it carefully, but eventually opted for a longer stay in England.

"The reason: artificial turf is so sensitive to injury, in England everybody plays on grass, those fields are always top, and football just has to be on the pitch."