England boss Roy Hodgson believes that Raheem Sterling needs to develop a "thicker skin" after being booed during his country's goalless draw against the Republic of Ireland.
The 20-year-old has faced criticism for his contract dispute with Liverpool after his agent claimed that he would not sign a new deal with the Merseysiders, despite their reported offer of £100,000-a-week wages.
Sterling's form has also suffered as he endured a disappointing afternoon at the Aviva Stadium before being replaced after 67 minutes by Andros Townsend.
Hodgson told reporters: "I think he's going through a bad time publicly. You can't expect people just to shrug off the criticism he has been receiving, not least from the local media in Liverpool. That becomes national pretty quickly.
"He does ever so well and tries well to shrug it off, to let his football do the talking. He needed this game to realise that, if he is going to get it out of his system, he's going to have work harder still and get a thicker skin than he has at the moment.
"We only took him off today was to give others the game, to air the squad."
Sterling has been linked with moves to Manchester City and Manchester United in recent weeks.
Simon Sinclair
