STERLING SHRUGS OFF HIS CRITICS

RAHEEM STERLING claims his critics cannot hurt him and insists he has become stronger from all the scrutiny over the past 10 days. The maelstrom surrounding his gun tattoo was already swirling around him when it emerged that he had turned up late for World Cup duty in the first place, prompting an apology to the entire squad. Then, after Gareth Southgate had told his players not to risk diving on Saturday morning with VAR in operation at the World Cup, he was booked for simulation for going to ground trying to win a penalty against Nigeria at Wembley that afternoon.

But speaking at a meet-thepress event at St George’s Park yesterday aimed at breaking down barriers between the media and the squad, Sterling said it was all water off a duck’s back. “Me and my mum and my agent sometimes talk,” Sterling said.

“Little things like what happened the other day, people expect me to be really affected by it.

“But I just find I’ve been through harder stuff in my life so to get down by that... it’s the least of my worries. I’ve got a massive opportunity here with a great bunch of players to represent England at a World Cup – that’s my biggest focus now. The tattoo thing goes by, it’s going to be spoken about for one day, two days.

“If something bad or something negative happens, the majority of the time I have a think about what’s been said and at the end of it, respect it and go ahead and that’s it.

“I feel strong. As long as it’s nothing about my kids, my