RAHEEM STERLING has broken his silence after being left out of the England squad.
The 28-year-old has impressed in the opening weeks of the season for Chelsea, scoring twice in three games.
However, he was unable to earn a spot in Gareth Southgate’s squad for upcoming matches versus Ukraine and Scotland.
On his omission from the team, a statement from Sterling’s camp read: “Raheem will revert to the coach for all comment but would like to reinforce that the decision has been respected.
“Raheem will continue to focus on his domestic form.”
Sterling, who has 82 caps for the Three Lions, has now missed the last three England squads, with the previous two due to injury.
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On leaving Sterling out, Southgate said: “We were really pleased with the group and to bring Raheem back in, we have to leave somebody out and I don’t think any of the attackers deserved leaving out.
“It’s really good to see Raheem start the season well, he looks hungry and is an important player for us but in those areas behind the No9, we’ve got a lot of competition for places.
“He wasn’t available for the last two groups. It’s given others an opportunity to play well and establish themselves.
“Raheem isn’t particularly happy about it and I understand that but I’m convinced he will have an excellent season at Chelsea.”
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Southgate has handed first call-ups to Blues defender Levi Colwill and Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah.
Meanwhile, their were also opportunities again given to Lewis Dunk, Fikayo Tomori, Eberechi Eze and James Maddison.
Jordan Henderson kept his spot despite moving to Saudi Arabia and Harry Maguire was selected again although he is yet to play this season.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
