Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez were involved in a slight confrontation during the recent Liverpool and Man City clash, with that altercation carrying over to the England squad. As a result, Raheem Sterling has been dropped from the national team squad for their upcoming game.
The incident occurred at the Three Lions' St George's Park training base and as a result, the Premier League superstar will not be considered for the upcoming showdown with Montenegro. The FA announced this decision in a statement.
According to the Daily Mail, the altercation was instigated by Sterling after his clash with Gomez. The two locked heads at Anfield in what was a heated encounter and despite appearing to make pace after the final whistle in the Citizens' 3-1 loss at Merseyside, another confrontation followed.
The Liverpool defender reportedly made a warm attempt to greet his fellow countryman but was met with an aggressive response. Sterling apparently attempted to grab Joe by the neck and threw jibes at the 22-year-old.
Several other England players were present at the time and initially thought Sterling's reaction was a joke. However, they quickly realized that that was far from the case as they had to step in to separate the pair.
Raheem later apologized, which Gomez accepted, drawing an end to this bust-up but it did not matter to Southgate. The gaffer explained his decision to drop the talented winger from the squad for Thursday in the FA's statement, saying:
"One of the great challenges and strengths for us is that we've been able to separate club rivalries from the national team.
"We have taken the decision to not consider Raheem for the match against Montenegro on Thursday."
Sterling has since issued a response after the bust-up
Sterling has not been sent home, however, and could feature in the clash with Kosovo. As for the Man City ace, he has taken to social media to raise his hands up and admit to his mistakes. Whether his lengthy Instagram post will convince Southgate to consider him for the Kosovo game remains unknown.
