England manager Gareth Southgate leapt to the defence of Harry Maguire.

The Manchester United captain received boos from the crowd at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday, as the Three Lions beat Ivory Coast 3-0 in a friendly.

Maguire was booed as the teams were read out before kick-off, but Southgate believes the reaction was extremely ill-advised.

He also defended the player, saying he was the best centre-back for the Red Devils.

"It becomes mob mentality. At one end of the ground, we've got a hardcore section of fans playing his song. I'm very aware it's not everybody. But we're either all in it together or we're not," said Southgate to Sky Sports.

"Don't think for one minute the other players won't be looking at that thinking, 'that could be me one day'. And that's been one of the problems with playing for England. Players have thought, 'do I want to go because when it turns a little bit difficult the crowd are going to turn on me'. That happened with John Barnes here, it happened with Ashley Cole, with Raheem. And now Harry. They're all outstanding players.

"We need Harry Maguire playing well to even have a chance of doing well. We're not going to win a World Cup with players with three or four caps. That's not happened in the history of the game. We need our experienced players playing well, especially in those types of positions.

"In my opinion, he's the best centre back at his club as well. It's ludicrous. Every time he steps onto a football pitch every action is analysed to death. I can't remember a player having that sort of spotlight on him."