Steve Parish on Wilfried Zaha England furore: The FA's focus is on Arsenal and Manchester United

England missed out on calling up Wilfried Zaha because the Football Association are too focussed on players from elite clubs such as Manchester United and Arsenal, says Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish.

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.

The Palace winger moved to London at the age of four and played for England at Under-19s and U21s, and also made two friendly appearances for the senior side.

But the last of those call-ups came in 2013 as Zaha's career stalled following a move to Manchester United, and Zaha switched his international allegiance to the Ivory Coast last November ahead of the African Cup of Nations - a situation which led Gareth Southgate to try and change his mind.

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Southgate said following the international break that he did not appreciate Zaha was on a "disappearing egg timer" - a statement that Parish and Zaha both dispute - and the Palace chairman believes the FA did not work hard enough to keep Zaha in the international fold.

Parish believes the scouting system is weighted against players who develop later in life - such as Jamie Vardy - telling 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.

"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."

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