Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda has leapt to the defence of France teammate Patrice Evra following his verbal blast at several pundits on French television.

The Manchester United defender was criticised for his half-time team talk during France's win over Belarus in September, which led to the French Football Federation summoning Evra to explain his comments after he responded by labelling his doubters as "tramps".

The FFF decided against hitting the left-back with any kind of punishment, and Mandanda feels that Evra has done nothing wrong.

"It's something personal. This is what he felt", Mandanda told Canal Football Club.

"Each person has their feelings. This is not necessarily me, but it is not easy as a player to suffer criticism, whether it is justified or not.

"I know him very well. He is a good and important player in the group."

Following Evra's rallying call at the break, France went on to beat Belarus 4-2 in their World Cup qualifying group match.