Thursday 31 October 2019 14:41, UK
Harry Kane has backed his England team-mate Raheem Sterling amid the scrutiny surrounding him, describing it as "completely unfair".
Manchester City forward Sterling was criticised for a tattoo of a M16 assault rifle on his leg - before alluding to its "deeper meaning" in a social media post - and he also apologised to England team-mates for his late arrival to the squad's training base.
Asked whether he thought the criticism Sterling, who started for England in their 2-1 World Cup warm-up win against Nigeria on Saturday, received was unfair, Kane responded: "I do.
"I think there's some criticism and articles that go around which are completely unfair but unfortunately that's part of the world we live in.
"In camp the focus is solely on football, the matches and building that team chemistry. And that's what we've been doing.
"Raheem's very strong mentally. He's been training very well, he's come out today and played excellently.
"As players, all we can do is fight and play for our country to the best of our ability."
After a difficult week, Sterling played a key role in England's lively first-half performance but was booked for simulation in the second half.
Southgate praised Sterling for his performance and said it was important to show his player support after he came "under fire".
"It wasn't about getting a response. I knew the form he was in and with the way he has trained that he would play well", said Southgate.
"I had a decision to make on whether to play him after turning up late. But actually that wasn't a decision once he started to come under fire from every other direction.
"The most important thing I do over the next six weeks is protect the players."
