Raheem Sterling: Gareth Southgate cannot be judged on Nations League matches

Raheem Sterling leapt to the defence of under-fire Gareth Southgate following England’s Hungary humbling, saying it is unfair to judge the manager on this Nations League run given what he has done for the team and nation.

Just 11 months ago the Three Lions went agonisingly close to joining the heroes of 1966 in immortality, with the country’s first ever European Championship final ending in a penalty shoot-out loss to Italy.

Southgate had already led England to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and third at the inaugural Nations League the following year, but the former defender is now facing the biggest challenge of his reign.

June’s draws with Germany and Italy were bookended by a famous Hungary double, with a shock 1-0 triumph in Budapest – their first win against England since 1962 – followed by a Molineux mauling.

The Magyars’ 4-0 triumph on Tuesday was the Three Lions’ biggest home loss since 1928 and saw fans chant “you don’t know what you’re doing” at Southgate.

“No one was expecting it,” experienced forward Sterling told BBC Radio 5 Live. “I think it’s been a disappointed camp overall in a sense that there’s been games that we should have won.

“But football’s cruel sometimes and we’ll take this one on the chin, recover well and get ready for the campaign in September.

“Of course it’s disappointing, of course there’s going to be question marks, of course there’s going to be doubts.

“But I’m more than confident in the group that we have. It’s solely down to us as players.

“We put good enough sides on each and every match that we’ve played and we just haven’t got the results. We haven’t been competitive enough, we haven’t been ruthless enough – myself also.

“So, it’s one that we just look at ourselves as a collective