'Absolute joke' - Gareth Southgate lambasts booing of Harry Maguire by England fans

Gareth Southgate said it was an "absolute joke" that Harry Maguire was jeered by some England fans and Jack Grealish called the treatment of his team-mate "ridiculous".

Having kicked off World Cup preparations with a 2-1 comeback win against Switzerland at the weekend, the Euro 2020 runners up boss made 10 changes for the friendly against Ivory Coast on Tuesday.

Under-fire Manchester United captain Maguire was among those brought in and was greeted by a smattering of boos at Wembley, where his name had received a similar reaction on Saturday.

There were even some jeers during the defender's first few touches of the ball in the 3-0 win against 10-man Ivory Coast - a baffling reaction that infuriated England's manager.

"I thought the reception was a joke, an absolute joke," he told Sky Sports.

"What he has done for us, the way he has performed for England, I don't get it. We are either in this all together or we are not."

Southgate not only felt the abuse of Maguire unacceptable but damaging to the rest of the England squad.

"I don't understand how it benefits anybody because we're either all in it together or we're not," the England boss said on a night when Ollie Watkins, Raheem Sterling and Tyrone Mings scored for the hosts.

"I would imagine if you asked a few actually why were they doing that they might not even be able to answer because it becomes a mob mentality.

"Of course at one end of the ground we've got a hardcore section of fans who are playing his song and trying to get his name sung, so I'm very aware it's not everybody.

"But we're either all in this together or we're not, and don't think for one minute the other players won't be looking at that thinking 'that could be me one day'.

"That's been one of the problems with