Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville has hit back at criticism aimed at Raheem Sterling on social media.

The 23-year old has been under fire even before the World Cup started, with many questioning his choice of tattoos and his performances week in-week out.

Neville, however, believes all the negative comments Sterling has received over the past few weeks have been unfair and “disgusting”.

The Manchester City star missed a one-on-one chance to score for England against Sweden in the quarter-final clash, but was an attacking threat throughout for Gareth Southgate‘s team.

Yet, he wasn’t spared on Twitter and some fans were very critical of his value to the team.

“The actual treatment at half-time of him across social media was absolutely disgusting, and isn’t representative of the performance he put in,” Neville told ITV.

“To run in-behind [Andreas] Granqvist all that time, he kept getting in and getting in. OK, we didn’t have the cherry on the cake, the goal, where all of a sudden you’re a hero, but it was a brilliant performance.”

Meanwhile, David Beckham too agreed with Neville’s thoughts, saying: “Haven’t seen this but whatever it is it’s wrong,” Beckham wrote in an Instagram story.

“We are in the semi final of a World Cup. Every player deserves to be applauded. We as a country are united and behind the team.”