England vs Nigeria: Gareth Southgate picked Raheem Sterling in reaction to negative press this week

Sterling was booked for diving but was impressive throughout

Gareth Southgate said that his mind was made up to play Raheem Sterling against Nigeria on Saturday because of all the public criticism he has received this week.

Sterling’s starting place for this first warm-up game had been in question after he reported late to England training 10 days ago, having been on holiday in Jamaica. But following a subsequent controversy over a tattoo of a gun on Sterling’s right leg, Southgate said it “was not a decision” whether to play him anymore. Southgate said that his main priority before and during the World Cup is to “protect the players”, and to send the right message to the rest of the group.

That is what pushed Southgate to picking Sterling at Wembley this Saturday, and he was rewarded with an impressive performance in which Sterling excelled up front alongside Harry Kane. “I had a decision to make whether to play him after him turning up late,” Southgate said. “But actually that wasn't a decision after he started to come under fire from every other direction.”

Southgate said that the unity of the squad was key. “The most important thing I do in the next six weeks is to protect the players,” Southgate said. “They respect each other and understand how important it is that they support and protect each other. It was 10 days ago as well. How long do we go on with something? You've always got to balance what the message is to the rest of the group, and what's most important at that moment in time. The situation was one we didn't want to happen, we don't want to see that happen again. But that was the best way to deal with it in my opinion at this moment.”

Sterling himself said that he owed Southgate a good performance and that he would not have felt hard done by had he been dropped for this game. “He's honest, he tells you his exact mind,” Sterling said of Southgate. “If I had been left out, I would not have had any complaints. I had to meet up at 11 o’clock. The flight got delayed and I was a bit late in the morning. I completely understand where he's coming from. I have to go out there and show him exactly what I'm capable of doing.”

Southgate was happy with Sterling’s overall performance, and hailed England’s first half, in which they scored twice, as the best in his two-year tenure in charge.

“I was really pleased with the first half,” Southgate said. “An excellent performance with the ball. Really good movement and interchanges between the front four [Harry Kane, Sterling, Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard]. We overloaded midfield and whenever Raheem or Harry came short, we made some fantastic runs in behind. There were a lot of unselfish one and two touch play. Our play from the back had good composure. It was as good a half as we've had.”