Harry Kane urges England boo-boys to lay off Joe Gomez and Raheem Sterling after bust-up

Harry Kane has urged the England boo-boys travelling to Kosovo to lay off Joe Gomez – or indeed Raheem Sterling as he makes his Three Lions return.

The entire squad is stunned at the treatment handed out to Gomez at Wembley by the crowd when he came on as a 70th minute substitute.

And with the away fans always most vocal when in the past Sterling himself was the target, there are fears of more of the same in Pristina on Sunday.

England manager Gareth Southgate and coach Chris Powell took it upon themselves to check on the emotional well-being of Gomez after the shock attack, along with England skipper Kane.

And the latter insists that the booing must stop when England travel to Kosovo looking for the win to finish their Euro 2020 qualification campaign on a high.

“I find it really confusing why he was booed,” Harry Kane said. “I cannot quite figure it out. But I don’t think any player should be booed.

“No player should be booed so hopefully it won’t happen to Joe or Raheem if they play on Sunday.”

“I know how important club football is with City and Liverpool and all clubs.

“But at international level, we are all England fans and the bottom line is that Joe is a great guy – one of the nicest guys I have ever met.

“He is a top professional and for him it is about moving on, training and looking at the next game.”

Kane furthermore admitted that rather than put Gomez through more formal counselling sessions with the professionals available on the England training camp, it was down to the squad itself to check up on a 22-year-old still making his first steps in international football.

“Look, it’s for us to pick him up,” Kane said. “He’s a young player who’s had a difficult week, and my priority is to support him.

“But I know all of the lads are going to get around him. I just know that’s happening now and will happen over the next few days.”

England take on Kosovo on Sunday at 5pm with Raheem Sterling available again after being excluded from Southgate’s plans for the 7-0 thrashing of Montenegro.

source: express.co.uk