Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has rejected claims of a rift with Wilfried Zaha.

It was put to Hodgson that Zaha was upset being taken off against West Ham for their 4-3 win last week.

"He's fine, he's a good captain. I'm irritated to some extent," Hodgson said.

“The press are reporting that Wilf was angry at being taken off, how do the press feel they have the right to report that?

“He wasn't angry at being taken off at all. In fact he and I discussed him playing an extra 10 minutes when I'd been thinking about taking him off 10 minutes earlier.

“I hear that he was going on about one of the other players in the game, he certainly wasn't moaning about being taken off."

Hodgson also snapped: “It's an insult really as we are talking about someone who I made captain of the team, and he was working hard to show an example to the team, saying this is what's needed.

“For him to read that Wilf Zaha throws his toys out the pram is totally and utterly untrue, I think that's unfair. I think that's bad journalism. Hopefully you guys weren't responsible, one b****** was that's for sure."