Andros Townsend has tried to end the controversy over Roy Hodgson's joke by insisting the England manager was trying to pay him a compliment.
Hodgson used a joke about NASA sending a monkey and a human into space to illustrate the need for England players to give Tottenham winger Townsend the ball when he was in space during the match against Poland.
The leaking of the joke has sparked a row culminating in a letter of complaint from a pressure group being sent to the Football Association demanding that Hodgson attend a 'race appreciation' training course.
Townsend told BBC Sport: "It has all been said now, it has been in the news the last few days and I think everyone should focus on us qualifying for Brazil and not focusing on negative, silly news.
"The manager told the player to give the ball to me, so that is a compliment in a way."
