Zaha to miss Wales clash

17 May 2014 10:46

Wilfried Zaha has been withdrawn from the England Under-21s squad to take on Wales through injury.

The Manchester United winger ended the season on loan at Cardiff and reported for duty at St George's Park with a niggling injury.

Given Zaha is unavailable for the upcoming Toulon tournament due to age restrictions, the 21-year-old has been rested by manager Gareth Southgate for Monday's European Championship qualifier in Swansea.

"Wilf has been carrying something and we decided that it was probably best not to aggravate it," the Young Lions boss said.

"We would have only had four days with him, whereas with the others we get two weeks, which is a great extended period to work with them.

"He would have only been available for the one game anyway, so over the five games we've got Nathan [Redmond] who's been playing really well and Tom Ince, who were the two wingers who started the last game.

"And there's Jesse Lingard, who has been knocking on the door for us a lot and has had a really good loan spell at Brighton, and that's before we look at the boys who have just come into the squad."

Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone has also withdrawn from the squad with an arm injury.

Source: PA