Crystal Palace may be one game away from the Premier League, but they have not blown the bank to get there.

The Eagles’ 18-man squad for the final cost just £2.45m to assemble, with Kagisho Dikgacoi the most expensive player at £600,000 having signed from Fulham two years ago.

It is a policy that is in stark contrast to some of their promotion rivals.

Champions Cardiff spent more money on striker Nicky Maynard in August (£2.5m) than Palace have on their whole squad.

In January alone, Hull City spent £3.5m on Robbie Brady and David Meyler, Brighton spent £2m on striker Leonardo Ulloa and Leicester forked out £1m on Chris Wood.

Play-off final opponents Watford, meanwhile, have used a loophole in the loan system to fill their squad with 10 loan stars, seven of which come from Italian club Udinese, owned by the Pozzo family that also own Watford.

The Eagles have only paid money for six players, with eight signed on free transfers, two coming through the youth system and another two coming in on loan.

Breakdown:

Julian Speroni (£500,000)

Joel Ward (£400,000)

Damian Delaney (free)

Danny Gabbidon (free)

Dean Moxey (£400,000)

Mile Jedinak (free)

Kagisho Dikgacoi (£600,000)

Owen Garvan (£250,000)

Jonathan Williams (youth)

Wilfried Zaha (youth)

Aaron Wilbraham (free)

Subs:

Yannick Bolasie (£300,000)

Jazz Richards (loan)

Kevin Phillips (loan)

Lewis Price (free)

Andre Moritz (free)

Peter Ramage (free)

Stuart O’Keefe (free).