England skipper Steven Gerrard backs Joe Hart ahead of Montenegro World Cup qualifier

England captain Steven Gerrard has given his full backing to goalkeeper Joe Hart, who has been criticised for his recent performances for Manchester City.

Much focus will be on the goalkeeper position in the build-up to the qualifiers but John Ruddy has joined his skipper in backing Hart and believes recent criticism of the Manchester City keeper affects England's chances of success. "Joe's the England number one. Rightly so," Ruddy said. "The way he's performed over the last few years he's deserved it and he's never let England down. "I've been in situations before when people are questioning you. It's never nice. "Without being too patronising, I felt sorry for him. "He doesn't warrant that sort of attention. He's a top-drawer goalkeeper, one of the best in the world without a shadow of a doubt. "It's the way the media is - you build people up so far and then chop their legs away when they get too high. "Unfortunately that's the way the English media goes. Until that stops we might struggle to go anywhere in competitions."