Robert Green has revealed he was sending himself up with having England's No6 stitched into his gloves in Saturday's game against Birmingham City.
The shot-stopper, who was watched for the first time by new England manager Fabio Capello, revealed his glove manufacturer came up with the idea of "having a laugh on my behalf". Fans have been chanting England's No6 this season in response to Green finding himself down the international pecking order despite his good form.
Green, who has pledged to "keep playing well and hope" about his national-team aspirations, added: "[The glovemaker] has been to games, heard the banter with the crowd and thought that it would be quite funny to have England's No6 stitched on my gloves. If you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? It is not having a go at anybody. It is not against anyone. If it is anyone, it is against myself."
Saturday's 1-1 draw saw Green largely untroubled, with the keeper only beaten by James McFadden's 16th-minute spot-kick. It was the first time he has seen a spot-kick go past him in five attempts this season but he felt the penalty was harshly awarded against Lucas Neill. The club captain had been penalised for a foul on McFadden eight minutes after Freddie Ljungberg had opened the scoring.
"The bounce has done both players but there is minimal contact," Green said. "The ref said he wrapped around him, but I never saw that. It was disappointing as it took the winds out of our sails. We started lively and brightly and looked like we could have scored more. After a decent start, it put us back to square one.
"They made it difficult for us. It was not pretty. But we have spoken about teams coming here and making it difficult for us, especially teams in the lower half. The games v Bolton, Reading and other teams that we have played here and not won. Sometimes you need special players in those situation, and as well as the guys are doing, sometimes we need that little bit extra."
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