Roy Keane has been warned over the impact his comments might have had on Manchester United captain Harry Maguire.
Having struggled for form at Old Trafford and beyond this season, the 29-year-old was booed by some England fans at Wembley against Ivory Coast. The defender was subject to jeers pre-game and, once again, when he took his first touch beneath the famous arch.
The issue has prompted defiant support for the United captain. England manager Gareth Southgate and his players such as international skipper Harry Kane, Declan Rice, Jack Grealish and Jordan Henderson have all publicly come to his defence.
While he later admitted that he felt 'sorry' for Maguire, pundit and former United captain Keane blasted Southgate for his reaction. Keane has been a regular and open critic of Maguire - along with other players - ever since the centre-back signed from Leicester.
READ MORE: England fans might have done Harry Maguire a favour at Manchester United
But such criticism can prompt others to follow suit, says former England defender Danny Mills. Speaking on radio station talkSPORT, he said: "Roy Keane has massive influence, unbelievable. Roy Keane says it, it's gospel.
"I think when Roy Keane speaks we all sit up and listen. He's got huge gravitas in the game, for what he's achieved, for what he's done and everything he's gone through and achieved in the game.
"You do have to listen to him, but he can be particularly vicious at times. How many times have these people seen Harry Maguire play for 90 minutes? They'll have seen snippets and have heard comments from Roy Keane no matter what.
"No matter how he's [Maguire] played, if Roy Keane says he's had an absolute 'shocker' and it's 'disgraceful' and he's had a 'stinker' then we all go 'he has done'. That's without watching the game ourselves and going through it.
"We listen because it's Roy Keane and he's spoken, so without seeing it as ourselves we take his opinion as gospel. Maybe we shouldn't do that. Then you get memes, then you get social media and trolls and everything else comes into it and it does influence opinion."
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