Wilfried Zaha has dismissed suggestions he goes to ground too easily and accused those who brand him a diver of “jumping on the bandwagon” as the Ivory Coast winger seeks to edge Crystal Palace closer to safety with victory in the derby against Brighton on Saturday.

The forward has endured abuse on social media, public criticism from pundits and accusations from opponents during games over a perceived eagerness to tumble in the box or initiate contact with markers but insists he never intentionally dives to win penalties. He has received support from successive Palace managers and the co-chairman Steve Parish, who said earlier this season there was “an agenda against Wilfried Zaha” after a furious reaction to the spot-kick awarded in stoppage time against Manchester City on New Year’s Eve.

“The whole penalty thing … it used to get me really annoyed but everyone just jumps on the bandwagon,” Zaha said. “I don’t really buy into it but I read stuff on Twitter and think half of you lot don’t even watch me play but you come online saying: ‘He’s a diver.’ If you watch me play you’ll see how often I get kicked. I don’t go off the pitch and cut myself to act like I’ve been kicked.

“The funniest thing is I’d love to actually show someone. If I let you sprint and I just literally touch the back of your ankle, see how far you go sliding down the pitch. At the pace I’m running, trying to get the ball, the slightest touch could trip me over. You don’t have to literally push me over. That’s what people don’t understand. But unless you’re able to run that fast, you’ll never understand.”

Zaha has won eight penalties for Palace over the past three seasons and, while no other club boasts as many as the Londoners’ seven cautions for simulation in that period, the last of the winger’s three bookings for the offence came at Watford on Boxing Day in 2016. The Football Association had viewed the incident against City, together with the two penalties awarded for fouls on Zaha during the league game with Bournemouth in December, and determined they did not meet the criteria for a clear and obvious case of diving.

The winger pointed to Sadio Mané’s slightly delayed reaction after he was clipped by James McArthur in Liverpool’s win at Selhurst Park last month, and claimed he is not guilty of such exaggeration. “See with Mané, it could have been a pen,” he said. “Obviously Macca did touch him. But he’s waited seconds later and then thrown himself, do you know what I mean? He’s taken at least 10 seconds, then dived.” That was at least said through a smile.

The Ivorian appeared to infuriate Bournemouth’s Simon Francis during last Saturday’s reverse fixture between the sides. “I’ve done a one-two, I’ve gone to run and he’s blocked me and I fell over,” said Zaha in an interview with Palace’s official website. “And it’s like: ‘So, realistically, you know you’ve blocked me and you’ve bundled me over. I haven’t called for a penalty but, anywhere else on the pitch, that’s a foul. So why are you trying to pull me up and say: ‘Why are you diving?’ Because you know that anywhere else it’s a foul.’

“That’s what I don’t get. Some of these pens that aren’t given, anywhere else that’s a foul. So why’s it a foul in the middle of the pitch and in the box it’s not? That’s the question I ask myself but I don’t get involved in that any more.”

Zaha endured abuse from home supporters in the goalless draw at Brighton in November, and will expect a similar reaction from the travelling fans at Selhurst Park on Saturday. “It does [make me play better], not that I really care,” he said. “Fans give me abuse all the time. Nearly every team does that. If I wasn’t a good player, you wouldn’t feel like you need to boo me the whole game. So do that if it makes you feel better but it does spur me on. It’s like: ‘You expect something from me, that’s why you’re doing this,’ so I don’t mind it. They can boo me all day long, really.

“I just want to play the game [against Brighton]. I want to beat them and then they can be quiet. I feel like there’s no need for us to have the debate. I don’t feel like they’re better than us, so we just need to get the game over and done with, beat them and then they can just go back to wherever they came from, really. I get so much stick from them … I’m looking forward to the game.”