England News

• Nickname:Three Lions
• Founded: 1872
• Manager:Roy Hodgson

• Ground:Wembley Stadium
• Capacity:90,000

Gerrard: Fans had right to boo

13 Oct 2008 - 15:42:04

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Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard believes England fans had the right to boo Ashley Cole following his mistake against Kazakhstan on Saturday.

Several players, including Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard, had condemned the supporters at Wembley who had booed Cole's every touch after his poor back-pass allowed the visitors to make it 2-1.

Although England responded by scoring three more goals in the last 14 minutes to win 5-1, much of the post-match talk centred on the fans' reaction to Cole's error.

When asked at a press conference in the build-up to the game against Belarus on Wednesday, if fans were entitled to boo players, Gerrard said: "Of course.

"Any supporter, when you pay money, you deserve to voice your opinion. But we need their support. If we're going to be successful in the future, we need them with us.

"It's not going to help Ashley and it's not going to help the team but the support we got was fantastic. They stayed with us throughout the game.

"He (Cole) is disappointed and the players are disappointed. But you've got to get on with it. You've got to take it as a man. Ashley's a big character and the players are here to support him."

England defender Matthew Upson agreed with Gerrard's assessment of the incident, adding: "It's natural for the fans to expect a lot from their team.

"We're one of the strongest groups of players in the world. The stadium we play in is fantastic so there's going to be pressure and expectation.

"We'd ask people not to get too carried away, but we're on the right track, we just need to keep plugging away."