Raheem Sterling has leapt to the defence of England teammate Joe Gomez, after the Liverpool defender was booed by fans when coming on as a substitute during Thursday night’s win over Montenegro.
Sterling was dropped for the game, which saw England secure qualification for next summer’s European Championships, after he confronted Gomez in the canteen at St. George’s Park, the day after the pair had clashed on the field during Liverpool’s 3-1 Premier League win over Man City.
The City star has apologised, and the pair are back on speaking terms, with Gareth Southgate stating on Tuesday that Gomez had done nothing wrong and that the squad was ready to move on.
However, when Gomez replaced Mason Mount in the 70th minute of the 7-0 win, a section of the Wembley crowd booed, prompting Sterling to speak out.
"To all the @England fans," he wrote on Twitter. "I wanted to leave things at it was but tonight I have to speak again : it was hard for me to see my team mate get booed for something that was my fault.
"Joe hasn’t done anything wrong & for me to see someone who keeps his head down and work hard especially after a difficult week for him to be booed when he came on tonight was wrong.
"I’ve taken full responsibility and accepted the consequence. I felt as though I had to say this get home safe every one."
Sterling's tweets immediately drew praise on social media.
