Wilfried Zaha says he has been freed from defensive duties by Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira.

Former Arsenal midfielder Vieira is looking to change Palace into a more attacking side, moving away from Roy Hodgson's pragmatic style.

And Zaha is excited to have more freedom under Vieira.

"Me personally, he feels I can add a lot more to the team," Zaha told talkSPORT.

"Goals and assists and the thing he says now is, 'I don't want you involved in that [defensive] side of the half, stay up on this side', which is perfect, it saves my energy for attacking, which is the main thing.

"At the end of the day football now is all about stats. People will look on Match of the Day whether I have scored and assisted, it doesn't matter if I've tracked back - it is about my goals.

"That is the conversation we've had, I need to score more goals. I need to assist more and I'm up the pitch more.

"In a team I am only effective if I'm not tired. If I am tired and I've ran past three players, don't even expect my shot to be on target. I am tired, you can't play when you are tired.

"Our game just can't be counter attacks all the time. He has just told me to stay up the pitch and do what I do up the pitch, make the difference."