Crystal Palace ace Wilfried Zaha admits transfer speculation left his head "a bit all over the place".

The winger, 26, was involved in a protracted transfer saga with boyhood club Arsenal and then Everton, with the former opting to sign Nicolas Pepe instead, and the latter baulking at his £80million fee.

"I had to put my head down and play my football. I would have been hindering my own progress by moaning and not wanting to perform properly," he told BBC Africa.

He added: "I have too much respect for my manager, the fans and my team-mates to treat them that way. It was a thing where 'OK, this hasn't happened but I've got to get on with it'.

"I've got to prove every time that I'm the top player I claim to be so I had to get over that quickly.

"Obviously my head was a bit all over the place at the beginning of the season but I had to nail down and just get on with it because the team deserved that."