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Crystal Palace star could earn shock England recall after Gareth Southgate talks
WILFRIED ZAHA could be a surprise inclusion in the England squad for the European qualifying match against Scotland at Wembley next Friday.
Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha could be set for a shock England recall
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew had admitted he has talked about his exciting wingman with interim boss Gareth Southgate.
Zaha will face Burnley on Saturday in the kind of form that has already seen him capped by his country and he could force his way back into favour, replacing Palace’s other England winger Andros Townsend, who was dropped by his club last week.
“I know Gareth well and I’ve had a conversation with him in which Wilf’s name came up,” said Pardew.
“He is playing some of his best football since I came to the club and I believe he has a genuine chance of being in the squad.
Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has admitted to talking about Wilfried Zaha with Gareth Southgate
Wilfried Zaha has been in impressive form for Crystal Palace this season
“As for Andros, sometimes players will find themselves left out because of tactical reasons and he has accepted that. A lot of players in the England party will not be starting for their teams. I have to use all the players in my squad and there is no problem with him.”
Palace have not won in four Premier League matches and failed to keep a clean sheet so far this season.
Seven goals have been shipped in the last two but, ahead of today’s match at Burnley, Pardew added: “I’m not overly concerned about that run, clean sheets are something that can be hung around your neck so we need to get that off our backs. But they are not our priority.”
Crystal Palace youngster shows off his INCREDIBLE skills
And that will boost Burnley with midfielder Dean Marney believing his side can plot a survival course by refusing to tackle the Premier League big guns on their own terms.
“We’re not going to out-pass teams at this level, much as we like to get the ball down,” he said. “If we went toe-to-toe with a lot of these teams we’d probably come off second best.”
Burnley could move into the top half of the table by beating Crystal Palace after their defensive heroics won a point at Manchester United.
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