Oliver Glasner may break FA Cup final tradition after Crystal Palace beat Aston Villa

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner plans to don his lucky jumper for the FA Cup final next month.

Oliver Glasner has pledged to don his lucky Boss jumper when he leads Crystal Palace into the FA Cup final – and has suggested he could even ditch the tradition to wear a suit unless he’s forced to. Glasner aims to etch his name in history as the first ever Eagles boss to clinch major silverware after his squad dazzled their way into the final against either Nottingham Forest or Manchester City on May 19.

Ismaila Sarr’s second-half brace, after Eberechi Eze’s sensational opener, put Aston Villa to the sword. Glasner has said if he is under obligation he will get suited up, though he won’t abandon his lucky knitwear. Glasner said: “I am told it’s tradition to wear a suit – and if I have to wear one I will wear one. But I also have to wear this jumper that I’m wearing. I’m a little bit superstitious.

“After our defeat at Newcastle, I ditched my blue jumper for black – and we haven’t lost since. It’s certainly served its purpose.”

Palace, with two prior final appearances which both ended in defeats to Manchester United, are now poised to rewrite their history books under Glasner’s guidance, having demolished a side that was among the last eight in the Champions League.

“The players are happy because they have taken another step. But there is still one more to go. It is a nice reward that we can now come back to this great stadium to play another game in three weeks’ time.

“But we can’t lie in the sun for two weeks celebrating. We have a few days off and then on Thursday we start preparing for Nottingham Forest and Tottenham in the Premier League.

“All credit to the players. They had some difficult moments to overcome, but they stayed calm and stuck to the plan.”

Oliver Glasner refuses to ‘destroy’ mood by dancing after Palace reach cup final

Ismaila Sarr recorded a second-half brace after Eberechi Eze opened the scoring.

Oliver Glasner refused to dance after Crystal Palace booked their place in the FA Cup final with a 3-0 triumph over Aston Villa at Wembley because he thought it would have “destroyed” the jubilant mood in the dressing room.

Ismaila Sarr recorded a second-half brace after Eberechi Eze opened the scoring in the 31st minute, though the winning margin could have been even greater had Jean-Philippe Mateta not missed a penalty after the break.

Austrian Glasner – in his first full season with the Eagles – gave his players full permission to enjoy their achievement, but resisted busting moves of his own in the dressing room.

“No. It’s better not to (dance),” he joked, perhaps recalling former boss Alan Pardew’s memorable celebratory jig during the 2016 final.

“And with all the happiness and pride, it was not the last step. It was one more step, but an important step. When you play the final, you want to win it.

“I’m really proud. I’m enjoying walking in front of the stands seeing how happy people are. In the dressing room, it’s a great mood. I think (if) I started dancing, I (would have) destroyed this moment.”

It is just the third time the Eagles have reached an FA Cup final in their history – having lost to Manchester United on both occasions in 1989-90 and 2015-2016 – and the Palace boss, who had resisted discussing their trophy chances earlier in the week, remained pragmatic when asked if he could now be more forthcoming about the possibility.

He said: “Yes, because it’s the final. We can play the final, so most teams who play the final can win the trophy. So it’s nothing new, I think, (that) I tell you.”