I will play for France but first I want to win FA Cup

Maxence Lacroix on Crystal Palace reaching Wembley, Oliver Glasner and the importance of his faith

- Ed Aarons

Maxence Lacroix is treating tomorrow's FA Cup semi-final at Wembley as just another game but the same can't be said of his mother. "She's more stressed than me right now," the Crystal Palace defender says. "But I think it's really good for a mother or father to see their son running his dream and playing this type of game because she knew it was difficult before and now she sees her son growing, having a family and doing what he wants. So I think she's proud, a little bit stressed but it's all right."

Growing up in Ajat, a village in the Dordogne, Lacroix knew he was never going to follow in his mother Corrine's footsteps by becoming a doctor. Having moved to Germany from the French side Sochaux as a 20-year-old after coming through the prestigious Clairefontaine academy, he reunited with Oliver Glasner - his former manager at Wolfsburg - in south London last summer. The elegant defender is the heartbeat of the Palace side that will face Aston Villa for a place in the final and has been tipped to win his first senior cap sooner rather than later after representing France at every youth level.

"One day I will be in a national team - I know," he says confidently. "But right now it's to look at what's happening in Crystal Palace, the semi-final and win this Cup."