Andros Townsend believes Jack Wilshire’s ability as a player is vastly underrated because of his injury problems.
Wilshire is currently without a club, having been unable to make an impact at West Ham following a move from Arsenal.
Speaking on Talksport, Crystal Palace winger Townsend said: “I think now people don’t remember the player he was when he was at Arsenal and how he was playing at the Nou Camp and running the game from midfield.
“People just seem to remember the injuries he picked up and not the player he was before the injuries.”
Asked for his ‘underrated five-a-side’ Townsend named Wilshire along with Heurelho Gomes, Moussa Dembele, Tom Huddlestone and Bobby Zamora.
Townsend played alongside Zamora while on loan at QPR from Tottenham in 2013.
Zamora, who also played for West Ham and had spells at Tottenham and Fulham. had injury problems during his time at Rangers but famously scored a last-minute play-off final winner against Derby to take the club back to the Premier League.
“When I played with him at QPR he was so unselfish,” Townsend recalled.
“He doesn’t care about scoring goals. All he cares about is pinning the defenders and helping you, giving you something to play off and making you a better player and getting you goals as opposed to scoring goals himself.”