Luke Shaw defends England teammate Harry Maguire following disastrous Nations League showing

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Luke Shaw defends England teammate Harry Maguire following disastrous Nations League showing

Luke Shaw has defended England defender Harry Maguire after another poor performance in the Nations League draw with Germany.

The centre-back gave away a penalty in the dramatic 3-3 draw at Wembley Stadium and was guilty of losing possession for the second goal, before his teammates spared his blushes by scoring three late goals to earn a point in the Three Lions' final League A game.

The penalty concession was the latest in a long line of errors from Maguire who, due to his poor form, has been dropped by Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag at club level.

While calls for Maguire to be dropped by England manager Gareth Southgate get ever-louder, teammate Shaw has come out in his defence on BBC Radio 5 Live, stating: "Harry is an amazing player, an amazing character.

"He's taken a lot of stick - probably more than I've ever seen before in football.

"He never hides away, he's always there. You can have people who can hide away and not want to be in the spotlight. He keeps putting himself in the spotlight, it shows the strength and character he's got.

"Everybody knows he's an unbelievable player. At the moment the confidence might not be there because it could feel like the whole world is against him.

"It's tough for him, but us as players and staff are all behind him because he's a very important player. It shows Gareth's trust because he's played in both games [this week] - and look at the Euros what he's done.

"People need to understand he's a big part of the England team and have to accept it."

Maguire also took to Instagram after the game to apologise for his performance: "Mistakes are part of the game, I apologise. Great fight back and spirit to get us back into the game by the lads.

"Take the positives and look forward to Qatar. The tough times will make us stronger."