Crouch standing tall

Peter Crouch insists he will never be affected by any criticism he receives.

The lanky marksman can be a figure for abuse from opposition fans for an obvious reason - his 6ft 7ins frame.

Crouch has attracted a lot of criticism from fans, with disturbingly even a minority of England fans jeering him when he came off the bench against Austria at Old Trafford.

However, despite it all, Crouch has admirably kept a smile on his face and he insists that it has all been water off a duck's back with him.

"I never read much into it because it's not too concerning. Being so obvious, I'm an easy target, but it's not a problem," Crouch told The Times.

"You've got to laugh. If you didn't laugh, you'd cry.

"You've got to have a sense of humour. If I took what people said about me to heart, there's no way I could be a footballer. You can't take yourself too seriously. A lot of people do, but I don't. It's got me this far, so I won't be changing.

"A lot of people made it an issue," Crouch said about the episode at Old Trafford. "But for me it was a Liverpool player playing at Man United. It was one of those things. I played in the England v Argentina match and when I was warming up I got a great reaction from the fans. When I came on the reception was superb."

Crouch has enjoyed a settled run in the Liverpool side for most of the season but is keen to point out that he is not just a target man up front.

"I wouldn't be happy just being the target man," he added. "When your team's struggling, as we were at Southampton, there's a tendency just to launch the ball towards someone like me, which can be frustrating, because I want to show I can play.

"At Liverpool we've got Stevie (Gerrard) and Xabi Alonso - two of the best passers in The Premiership, if not the world - and we're set up to play the ball to my feet. I'm loving every minute and I've definitely improved."

Despite his height, Crouch has struggled in the past with being out-muscled due to his slight frame, but he is now learning how to stand up for himself.

"You play against defenders who'll do anything to stop you and there are some tough, aggressive lads in The Premiership.

"There are some hard defenders out there, but I'd like to think I've got the better of most of them. I've definitely picked up a few tricks in terms of holding people off - having long arms helps.

"I've learnt to use my physique to my advantage and taken on board what people like Niall Quinn have said about my positioning. I feel I've come to a stage in my career where I've sussed it out, learnt how to play."

From day one the Liverpool fans have been right behind Crouch, and he was quick to thank them for their backing when he went through his much-publicised goal drought at the start of the season.

"Everywhere I went in Liverpool, everyone was superb. I've found there's a lot of togetherness in the city, it's all of us against all of them, and maybe that's why people responded to my situation. I think a different set of supporters might have jumped on the bandwagon and given me stick."