Sergio Ramos calls for Gerard Pique boos to stop

Sergio Ramos has called on the Spanish public to stop booing Gerard Pique in light of more criticism aimed at the Barcelona defender.

During Spain's 2-0 win over Slovakia in their Euro 2016 qualifier on Saturday, Pique was roundly booed and whistled by the home supporters.

The criticism of the defender stems from his political views, having previously been a supporter of Catalan independence.

Real Madrid defender Ramos, however, has said that booing from the public is not helping the team and has called for a halt to the animosity towards his fellow centre-back.

"We all know what Pique is like, we can't change that now and there's no point getting into whether he's always acted the right way in the last few years," Ramos told reporters.

"We're all Spanish here and we're representing a country. Booing doesn't do anyone good. We're here to represent our country, Spain, and we have to pull together. Pique gives his all on the pitch.

"We come to the national team to do our best and the less we talk about this subject, the better, because otherwise we will end up encouraging it to happen again."

Spain continue their Group C qualifying campaign with a trip to Macedonia on Tuesday.