Vicente Guaita reveals Patrick Vieira’s dressing room message after Crystal Palace’s FA Cup exit

Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita said Patrick Vieira gave a classy message to his team after their valiant FA Cup exit.

The Spaniard said Vieira thanked his players and told them to hold their heads up high despite losing 2-0 to Chelsea at Wembley.

Two late Chelsea goals, one from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and the other from Mason Mount, sealed the win for Thomas Tuchel’s side and brought the curtain down on Palace’s cup run.

Not many had given Vieira and his coaching staff a chance to get to the semi-final when he took over from Roy Hodgson.

But the Frenchman has brought style with success, and the fact the team is playing some refreshing football has reinvigorated the fan base.

There were a few fans who dropped their heads after Chelsea’s second goal, disappointed at failing to reach the final.

Tyrick Mitchell - who only returned to training only on Thursday - lost the ball leading to the first Chelsea goal.

And Vieira’s decision to play Jack Butland ahead of first-choice Guaita for such a game could be viewed as a mistake.

But the Spanish stopper said no one is moaning in the dressing room, and instead the message from the boss is to try and build on the cup run.

He said: “Obviously it’s a shame we could not make it to the final, but the manager is good, he said we should keep our heads up and try and build on the run instead.

“He is a good young manager and I’m certain that he will be a manager at the top level for a long time.

“We’ve had a good run and there is still football to be played in the season, so it is important we don’t let our heads drop and we continue all the work we’ve done to make sure we end the season well.”

The Chelsea defeat means Palace have now suffered back-to-back defeats in a week after going seven games without defeat prior to that.

They will hope to turn it around with games against Newcastle, Southampton and Leeds coming up quickly.