Red-hot Raheem wins over the boo boys

RAHEEM STERLING will accept being ‘The Hated One’ – as long as it’s because of his football failures.

The 23-year-old has been through the mill playing for England.

He was booed by Ireland supporters during the Three Lions’ draw in Dublin in June 2015.

And a year later, as England flopped at Euro 2016, one fan started a JustGiving campaign to pay to bring the then 21-year-old Manchester City star home from France.

The page, which brought in £1,356, can still be viewed, along with the comments: “Let’s face it, we’re all sick of seeing this guy mince down the wing and fail to deliver a half-decent ball into the box.

“We’ll bring the lad home and then we can all stop cringing every time a gust of wind knocks him over.”

After the 1-1 draw against Russia in Marseille, the former Liverpool winger dubbed himself ‘The Hated One’.

But Sterling has come a long way since then, scoring an impressive 21 goals in 41 games for Pep Guardiola’s brilliant Manchester City this season.

“I didn’t see that funding thing,” he said on the eve of his 37th appearance for England in tonight’s friendly against Italy at Wembley.

“If I’m getting judged on my football and doing badly, then okay, I accept that.

“When it’s anything else, that’s when you probably get more affected by it.

“But if it’s about my football and I had a bad game, I take it on the chin. That’s me, I take it, try to assess and go from there again.

“If it’s about my football and I know I’m doing badly, then I’ll go reassess and go again and build from there. But I’ll never be down if it’s about football.”

Asked if he was proud at how he had bounced back and proved the army of doubters wrong, Sterling added: “It’s one of those, I always had belief in myself that I could turn it around, always had belief that I could build and try to get better. It’s what I try to do every day.”

Key to Sterling’s revival, of course, has been Guardiola, who has rebuilt his confidence and