ALAN PARDEW admits he is praying Yannick Bolasie does not come back to haunt him.
Crystal Palace boss Pardew reluctantly sold the DR Congo winger to Everton for an initial £25million this summer.
So Pardew heads to Goodison tonight knowing all too well the havoc Bolasie can wreak when he is in the mood.
But Pards is clinging to the hope that his insider knowledge of Bolasie’s game will also give him a fighting chance of stopping the Toffees’ flying machine.
Pards said: “The one thing we know about Bolasie, is that we know everything about him. On his day he is perhaps undefendable at times. He is as fast from zero to five yards as any player that I have ever worked with.
“But that is not to say that we can’t deal with him. We hope to. I love Yala. I just hope he doesn’t have one of the super-duper games he can have.
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“Of course he’ll be looking to impress but he has nothing to prove to us. Our fans still love him. I don’t think they are particularly happy that Everton’s fans have a song they’ve stolen from our fans — but that goes with signing big players.”
The Eagles travel to Merseyside in buoyant mood after Christian Benteke bagged a last-minute winner against Sunderland on Saturday to complete a stunning comeback from 2-0 down.
But there is more at stake than Premier League points for two players tonight — as Benteke battles with Everton ace Romelu Lukaku for a Belgium jersey.
Sacked Toffees boss Roberto Martinez is now in charge of the side ranked second in the world behind Argentina.
Pardew added: “It will be one for Roberto to sit back and enjoy. Christian wants that shirt, so those guys are an unbelievable sub-plot.
“Of strikers I’ve worked with Jermain Defoe, Demba Ba, Carlos Tevez and Teddy Sheringham are top-level. You have to say the same about Christian and Romelu.”
Palace striker Jonathan Benteke, brother of Christian, has been ruled out for up to four months with a knee injury.
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