Harry Maguire has denied that he was gesturing towards his critics after celebrating his goal for England against Albania by cupping his ears.
The defender opened the scoring in the 5-0 drubbing at Wembley with a thumping header but he was quickly mocked on social media for the celebration, which was taken as a response to criticism for his terrible recent form for Manchester United.
The celebration was also slammed by ITV pundits at half-time, with Roy Keane describing Maguire's antics as 'embarrassing' and saying he had been 'a disgrace' for his club in their harrowing Premier League defeats to Leicester, Liverpool and Manchester City.
Ian Wright joined in, saying 'you just don’t need to do that'.
But Maguire insisted after the game that he was not trying to silence his critics.
'No, it wasn’t directed at no one. It was a knee slide, I obviously put my hands on my ears, but no.
'I’m Manchester United captain, of course I’m going to get criticism when the team isn’t doing well, I fully expect that – but of course it’s not directed at no one.'