Wilfried Zaha could start England Under-21’s European Championship opener against Italy despite sitting out most of training yesterday, according to manager Stuart Pearce.

The 20-year-old, a star of Crystal Palace’s promotion to the Premier League, is struggling with an ankle complaint ahead of tomorrow’s Group A opener in Tel Aviv.

Zaha warmed up with his team-mates at training in Netanya yesterday, before going off to work alone with physio Derek Wright.

The winger left training early and watched the remainder of the session from the sidelines, although Pearce believes he could fit for the clash with Italy.

“He shouldn’t be a doubt,” the Young Lions boss said.

“He’s obviously played a really full season with the play-off final last week. The plan was to do the warm-up and then work with the physios.

“We’ll have another look at him tomorrow (today) and see where he is with regards to his fitness. But we shouldn’t have a problem. He’s on top form as you’d expect after his contribution to the whole season for Palace and getting a move to Manchester United and on top of that winning the play-offs.

“He’s been outstanding and he’s left the club back in the Premier League so he’ll be a cult hero with Palace for what he’s achieved for them.

“There are no other knocks, other than little maintenance issues.”

Meanwhile, Lorenzo Insigne was rated as a doubtful start for Italy after hurting his knee in training on Sunday.

The Napoli striker limped off but reports said he was only pulled out as a precautionary measure.

The other teams in Group A are Norway and hosts Israel.