An emotional Charlie Adam dedicated his maiden Dundee strike to his late father, Charlie Snr.

The Stoke City and Scotland midfielder pulled on a Dark Blues shirt for the first time in his career at Selhurst Park, guesting in the XI that was beaten 4-3 by Crystal Palace in Julian Speroni’s Eagles testimonial.

Not only that, Adam chipped in with a cracker of a goal from the edge of the area, which almost sparked a late comeback by Paul Hartley’s men.

It was a moment that will live long in the memory for Adam, who has more reasons than most to get emotional about his Dundee ‘debut’.

Moments after netting, Adam looked to the heavens and pointed skywards. Post-match he said he wanted to dedicate the goal to his Dad, who sadly took his own life around two-and-a-half years ago.

“It wasn’t my best goal but I was delighted with it,” he said.

“For me it’s a family thing. Obviously, my Dad was a massive Dundee fan.

“Playing for the club in the game brought back a lot of memories.

“He took me to games at Dens Park when I was a kid.

“So I dedicate it to my Dad. I do that because I know how proud he would be to see me in a Dundee shirt.

“My family were in the crowd to see the moment, too that was important to me.”

The Dark Blues fell behind to a Yannick Bolasie strike after just seven minutes, then found themselves 2-0 when Chung-yong Lee struck.

Dwight Gayle made it 3-0 on the half-hour before Dylan Carriero slotted home after a deft through-ball by Adam. Gayle added a fourth prior to the break before Dundee rallied.

Adam’s strike made it 4-2 then fellow life-long Dundee fan Cammy Kerr further reduced the arrears.

The scoreline mattered little to Adam, though. Like the fan that he is, he was just overawed to be in the same team as a host of Dundee heroes.

“To be in the same team as Speroni, (Fabian) Caballero, (Georgi) Nemsadze, (Juan) Sara, (Beto) Carranza and (Temuri) Ketsbaia was amazing.

“Those are the names I remember from growing up,” he said.

“It means a lot to me because I have supported the club since I was a youngster.

“I have been with this club every step of the way I have felt the highs and experienced the lows.

“The day Dundee lost in the Scottish Cup Final to Rangers I was hurting.

“I felt it the same as the rest of the fans.

“I might be a footballer but I’m a supporter first and foremost I was before I kicked a ball at any level.

“It’s been an honour to pull on the jersey.”

When asked whether he harboured any ambitions to pull the shirt on again in the future, he refused to rule it out.

However, he was quick to point out his commitments firmly lie with current employers Stoke.

“You never know,” he said jokingly.

“At the moment I am focused on playing for Stoke. My eye is also on Scotland next week I want to make sure I finish the season well on a personal level.

“It was amazing to be a part of Julian Speroni’s testimonial.

“I can’t thank him and Dundee enough for the chance to pull on the shirt.

“It was really nice to get the opportunity to play. I enjoyed every minute of it.”