England defender Joe Gomez was booed when he came on against Montenegro © AFP / Glyn KIRK
LONDON, United Kingdom, Nov 15 – Ben Chilwell has told Joe Gomez he has the backing of England’s squad after the Liverpool defender was booed against Montenegro following his row with Raheem Sterling.
Sterling was left out of the Euro 2020 qualifier by England boss Gareth Southgate after the Manchester City star grabbed Gomez in an altercation at the team’s training base earlier this week.
The incident is believed to have been caused by lingering ill-feeling following Sterling’s clash with Gomez during Liverpool’s Premier League victory over title rivals City on Sunday.
With Sterling sidelined, it was Gomez who was jeered by England fans when he came on as a second-half substitute in the 7-0 rout of Montenegro at Wembley on Thursday.
Both Sterling and Southgate condemned the crowd’s reaction and England left-back Chilwell insisted no player should be abused by their own fans.
“I have known Joe for a long time and it is not nice to hear that sort of thing,” he said.
“No one deserves to get booed, everyone is behind Joe. He is a great player and a great guy and we all support everyone.
“I just want and everyone wants the fans to get behind the whole team. We are going to support Joe and Joe is a very strong character.
“He played well when he came on and we are all behind him.”
Gomez appeared to be the victim in the incident with Sterling, but the pair are said to have buried the hatchet and Leicester defender Chilwell is adamant the bust-up is already old news.
“Joe is a strong character. He has been great this week in training. His normal self. We all moved on from it the day after it happened,” Chilwell said.
“We are going to be supportive of him and behind him.
“Everyone has moved on from it in the camp. We just want everyone else, the fans, to move on from it as well.”
