Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy insists Manchester City's Joe Hart deserves to stay as England's No1.
Ruddy is one of two understudies to Hart in the squad, alongside Celtic's uncapped stopper Fraser Forster, for the crucial World Cup qualifiers with Montenegro and Poland.
"Joe's the England No 1. 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."
