England's Andros Townsend hits back at Paul Merson after scoring against Italy

England winger Andros Townsend has responded to criticism from pundit Paul Merson after scoring the equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Italy on Tuesday evening.

The Sky Sports panellist said earlier this week that the Tottenham Hotspur man deserves to be "nowhere near" the national team, and Townsend has now struck back on Twitter following his goal in Turin.

He wrote: "Not bad for a player that should be 'nowhere near the squad', ay Paul Merson?"

Townsend came off the bench to cancel out Italy's first-half opener from Southampton striker Graziano Pelle and was later credited with turning the match around by Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson.