Luke Shaw has shown support to Manchester United and England teammate Harry Maguire, who continues to put "himself in the spotlight" despite his poor run of form.
The left-back returned to Gareth Southgate's starting team in Monday evening's draw against Germany at Wembley. He scored the first for the Three Lions in an eventful 3-3 draw.
It was a strong performance from Shaw, who looks to challenge Tyrell Malacia at Old Trafford when he returns to club duty.
Advert
Maguire was also starting, however, his showing was less than impressive.
A solid start was met by an amateur mistake from the defender. His lazy pass was intercepted by Jamal Musiala and then he brought the youngster down inside the box.
It wasn't long afterwards that Maguire was attempting to help at the other end of the pitch with a run in the final third. He lost the ball and it ended in Nick Pope's net 10 seconds later.
Advert
Shaw admitted that his centre-back at club and international level has been going through a rough patch in his career.
“I will be honest, it is a tough period at the moment,” he told the BBC.
“Of course Harry is an amazing player, an amazing character. He has taken a lot of stick, probably more than I have ever seen before in football but he never hides away, he is always there.
“You can have people that can hide away and not want to be in the spotlight but he keeps putting himself in the spotlight and it shows the strength and character he has got because, come on, everyone knows that he is an unbelievable player."
Advert
There has been much resistance from England fans since he was included in the squad for the recent Nations League fixtures.
He has not started the season well for Erik ten Hag's men and has lost his position in the starting line-up.
“At the moment the confidence might not be there because it might feel like the whole world is against him, it is tough for him but us as players, staff we are all behind him because he is a very important player and it shows Gareth’s trust that he has played in both games.
Advert
“Look at the Euros and what he has done, people need to understand he is a big part of the England team and they have to accept it.”
Meanwhile, it hasn't been all smooth-sailing for the 27-year-old full-back this term. He (like Maguire) lost his position in the starting team at Old Trafford following the 4-0 loss against Brentford in August.
His place in the England team has not always been definite. He was dropped from the prior Three Lions squad in the summer, despite scoring against Italy in the Euro 2020 final just over a year beforehand.
Advert
However, he was included this time around with doubt surrounding his position at United. Southgate is not spoiled for choice on the left like he is on the right side of the defence.
I think it shows the trust Gareth has in me,” Shaw added.
“I look at it from a club perspective, I know the first two games weren’t good enough and fully understand the manager has to make decisions.
“Now the team has been winning and we’ve got to bide our time, the only thing I can do is keep supporting the team, keep training hard and just wait for my time because I think if I put my head down and not care it would be a bigger hill to climb when I want to play.”
Topics: Manchester United, England, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw
Cain Smith