Alan Pardew says Wilfried Zaha has been scared by his time at Manchester United
But the Crystal Palace manager is convinced a spell on England Under-21 duty this summer will help the winger get back to where he was before his Old Trafford nightmare.
Zaha is rebuilding his career back at Selhurst Park after failing to establish himself at United following a £15million move to the North-west.
The wideman has a place in the club's history books as Sir Alex Ferguson's last signing but was unable to impress Fergie's successors David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal.
Now back on home turf, the 22-year-old has found a sympathetic manager in Pardew and his goal on Saturday – a brave, 22nd-minute opener that broke QPR's feeble resistance – was his first League strike since August.
Pardew can see clear signs of progress at club level but insists Zaha's road to recovery is not yet complete.
"There are two things with him: firstly, I don't see him smiling enough and secondly, he takes everything like a massive disappointment. Now that's a player who has been damaged," said Pardew.
"What I mean by that is if he doesn't get a pass, he can have a little sulk - not for long, just for a couple of seconds, but that's enough in the Premier League for something to happen.
"He does it training too. I'm saying this publicly because it's important he understands he needs to get rid of it.
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"He played with a little bit more of a smile on his face today and when you do that you can show a bit of exuberance and try things.
"The Man United thing came too early for a young player who, let's be honest, didn't get enough of an opportunity there. He needs to get rid of it now and move on and build his career again."
The Palace manager also sees the European Under-21 championship finals in the Czech Republic as the perfect springboard to relaunch an international career that stalled after just two senior caps.
I don't see him smiling enough and secondly, he takes everything like a massive disappointment
Alan Pardew
Pardew's stance is at odds with those Premier League managers who would prefer to see their youngsters rest rather than receive a call-up from coach Gareth Southgate.
But the Palace manager said: "I would love Wilf to go to the European championships because that is a big tournament for us, particularly after the Champions League results this year.
"And England didn't do well in the World Cup so Gareth should have the best players available and I'm hoping Wilf is one of them."
Zaha and fellow winger Yannick Bolasie tore Rangers apart in the first half with James McArthur and Joel Ward putting the home side three up before the break.
Matty Phillips' late 40-yarder did nothing to change the view that this was a disastrous display from a Rangers side now four points from safety with just nine games to go.
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Chris Ramsey faces a huge task if he is to turn things around and midfielder Karl Henry admits time is fast running out for the Loftus Road club if they are to avoid and immediate return to the Championship.
"We have got leaders in the team and we have got people who can step up and to be fair, it's not all doom and gloom," he said.
"It's a bad result for us and the first half was one to forget. That aside, it's been a decent four or five games without getting the results we have needed.
"We have been playing well and it's about turning performances into results. We are running out of games and we have to make it count."
