Crystal Palace chief Steve Parish has jumped to the defence of Wilfried Zaha.

Zaha elected to play for the Ivory Coast - his country of birth - at this year's African Cup of Nations, ruling the 24-year-old out of ever playing international football for England.

Parish told The Times: "It has a lot to do with the less glamorous clubs.

"The FA don't talk to people that come to Palace games. They talk to people who go to Manchester United and Arsenal games.

"Every now and then, non-league or a club like Palace throws up a gem.

"Our gems tend to be a bit rough around the edges when they start out. They do tend to be players that need to be honed.

"I see a lot of ridiculous stuff by people who know a lit more about football than me but only watch 20-second highlights and sat, 'He does not do this, he does not do that.'

"He can change a game in a minute. Anybody who watched Wilfried will tell you that some of the things that he does are ridiculous. Do we not want that?

"I can't believe there was not a role for Wilfried at England. There is no better example of that than the way Vardy came on."