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ENGLAND boss Roy Hodgson has revealed that he did not replace Raheem Sterling to spare him from jeers from the England fans during today’s friendly international in Ireland - but simply because he wanted to have a look at other players.

Liverpool contract rebel Sterling was booed and jeered throughout the goalless draw in Dublin, where there is a large Liverpool supporting contingent.

He made way after 66 minutes for Spurs winger Andros Townsend and former Liverpool boss Hodgson admitted that the Reds winger would have to develop an “even thicker skin.”

“He is going through a bad time publicly,” Hodgson told his post-match media conference.

“You can’t expect people to just shrug off criticism that he has been receiving – including the local press in Liverpool - but that fans out and becomes national quickly.

“He has done well to try and shrug it off and let his football do the talking. He probably needed this game to realise that he is actually to get it out of his system, he is going to need to work even harder and he is going to need an even thicker skin than maybe he has at the moment.

“The only reason we took him off wasn’t because we were particularly dissatisfied, but we wanted to get others a game.”

Hodgson added: “Players aren’t robots. He has done fantastic things for us but maybe he didn’t reach those heights today.”