Sunderland v Crystal Palace: Connor Wickham relieved to be back scoring ahead of Stadium of Light return

But the 22-year-old , who scored twice in their 3-2 defeat to West Brom at the weekend, is hoping his goals can count for more ahead of his return to the Stadium of Light.

And Wickham - who has struggled for goals since joining Palace from Sunderland in the summer - is hoping Alan Pardew's Eagles side can bounce back by beating his former side.

The former England Under-21 striker told his club's website: "It was disappointing.

"The manager will have us in and put us right but we have a game coming up very soon so we have to focus on that.

"We've got to start getting back to playing our best and pick it up again. It’s a weight off my shoulders personally but the gaffer has spoken to me individually over the past few weeks and said there’s no pressure on me to get goals.

"I always want to score goals and I'm pretty pleased that I've got two.

"It wasn't enough but hopefully it can be a confidence builder for the rest of the season.

"It's just me going back to instinct, I've thought to shoot every time and thankfully I've caught the second one sweetly and it’s gone into the top corner."

Wickham, who scored 15 goals in 91 Sunderland appearances, left the Black Cats in the summer, joining Palace for a fee of around £9million.