England goalkeeper Joe Hart said on Thursday that he and his team-mates are unconcerned by criticism of the quality of their football and only worried about winning.

England played out a dreary 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland in a friendly in Dublin last weekend that was described by former England midfielder Paul Scholes as "a waste of an afternoon".

But with Roy Hodgson's side having used the match to get in shape ahead of this Sunday's 2016 European Championship qualifier against Slovenia in Ljubljana, Hart believes it served a useful purpose.

"We just want to win games," said the Manchester City goalkeeper.

"We all want to play well, have 45 passes and then someone chips the keeper and someone does a bicycle kick, but that is not realistic.

"We are playing against opposition who have the same responsibilities to their country. Ideal performance would be perfect and for everyone to love it, but we have to do a job.

"It is not an easy job, but we love it and we want to win games."

British broadcaster ITV made a tongue-in-cheek Twitter apology to viewers for showing the game, which drew a caustic response from Hart.

"Everyone is a comedian nowadays," the 28-year-old told reporters at England's team hotel in Watford, north of London.

"You have to be used to that in football. People think they can say things about you and do things about you because they will never be face-to-face with you, but I am used to that.

"I have had plenty of things from people who would not say it if it was to my face. Stuff gets said and done, like you (the media) must have about your articles, and people tweet. It is the same thing. I know how it works."

He added: "Everyone is apparently entitled to their opinion. If someone said it to my face, I would maybe take it more seriously, but whilst it is written by people who have no backing to what they are saying, it means nothing.

"We were there to do a job and if we get the result against Slovenia, this was worth it."

The Dublin game saw James Milner make his first appearance since moving from Manchester City to Liverpool and Hart, who is a close friend of Milner's, said he was "very sad" to see him leave the Etihad Stadium.

Hart is now the only England regular left in City's squad and with club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak promising to bring in "high-quality" signings during the close season, the goalkeeper expressed hope that some of the players coming in will be English.

"It is a long summer ahead," said Hart, who signed a new five-year contract with City last December.

"Losing Frank (Lampard) and James, I am not in the discussions of transfers, but I imagine with home-grown players and stuff like that, it will be top of their list to bring in English players or to promote some of the lads (from the youth team).

"I am sure we will have a good, balanced squad come the start of the season."

Invited to assess City's chances of wresting the Premier League title back from Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in the 2015-16 season, Hart said: "I am very confident.

"I am very confident in Man City as a club, which is why I committed my future to the club. I think what they are doing is fantastic.

"(Al Mubarak) is a great chairman. They have done amazing things since coming. That is definitely now down to us."