‘It’s ridiculous’ – Southgate on England fans booing Maguire

England manager Gareth Southgate has described the booing of defender Harry Maguire as “ridiculous” in their 3-0 victory against Ivory Coast at Wembley on Tuesday.

Goals from Ollie Watkins, Raheem Sterling and Tyrone Mings sealed the comfortable win for ‘The Three Lions’.

The Manchester United skipper has suffered lots of criticism for his recent performances.

Some fans reportedly jeered as Maguire’s name was read out before kick-off, whereas others booed the 29-year-old’s first touch as England thrashed ‘The Elephants’.

Southgate said the treatment of the Red Devils’ centre-back was unacceptable.

“The reception was ridiculous, an absolute joke,” said Southgate.

“I don’t know how it benefits anybody. We’re either all in it together, or we’re not.

“I imagine if you asked a few of them why they did it, they probably wouldn’t even be able to answer. It’s mob mentality.

“One end of the ground, you have a hardcore group trying to get his name sung – it wasn’t everybody.

“Players will look at that and think, that could be me. It makes players not want to come. That happened with John Barnes here, that happened with Ashley Cole a couple of times, it happened with Raheem, now Harry.

“We need Harry to do well. We aren’t going to win a World Cup with a load of players with three or four caps. That’s never happened in the history of the game.”