• England

Sterling issues 'only human' riposte

Raheem Sterling appeared to offer a stern riposte to angry fans on Twitter who criticised the attacker for being too "tired" to start in England's 1-0 win against Estonia on Sunday.

Sterling was left out of England's starting line-up for the Euro 2016 qualifier in Tallinn after he complained about fatigue during Saturday training.

Roy Hodgson chose Adam Lallana instead and the England manager later defended Sterling's honesty in his post-match interview. However, the 19-year-old suffered the wrath of angry fans on Twitter before he issued his response shortly after midnight on Monday:

Now listening too.. Excuse me for being human omw home— Raheem Sterling (@sterling31) October 12, 2014

Sterling came off the bench during the second half of the match, despite only playing 45 minutes in Thursday's 5-0 victory against San Marino at Wembley. He looked lively and won the free-kick from which England scored.

Hodgson predicted Sterling would be fine by the time he next plays for Liverpool. He said: "I'm convinced he'll have a week now when he goes back to Liverpool, they'll sort him out and come Sunday [when Liverpool play QPR] you'll see him flying around."

Out of the players who represented England in Estonia, Gary Cahill has played the most minutes for club and country this season; the Chelsea defender leads the way on 4147 minutes overall. Sterling was fifth in the standings on 3014 domestic and international minutes throughout 2014, behind Joe Hart (3405), Leighton Baines (3404) and Jordan Henderson (3162).

Sterling retweeted several critical messages he received from Twitter trolls but also received plenty of support for his stance, with several Liverpool fans taking to the social networking site to defend their player.

Gary Lineker stuck up for the youngster and claimed Hodgson had done Sterling "no favours" by bringing the situation to light:

Raheem Sterling is a teenager. Teenagers do get tired and even moody. He's young, still developing, we should cut him some slack.— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) October 12, 2014

Lots of replies from those who've played a few games of FIFA and therefore are better qualified to opine. Have your view, but allow me mine.— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) October 12, 2014

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd