Raheem Sterling has admitted emotions got the better of him in a bust up with Joe Gomez, but the England star is moving on after being dropped.
Sterling, 24, was reportedly involved in a physical confrontation with Gomez at England’s training base yesterday and has been dropped for Thursday’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro.
The Manchester City star and Gomez were also involved in an altercation during Liverpool’s 3-1 win over the Premier League champions on Sunday.
In a post on Instagram, Sterling said it was time to move on, but admitted he had let his emotions get the better of him.
“First and foremost everyone knows what that game means to me!” he wrote.
“Everyone knows that I am not that way inclined and more to the point … both Joe and I have had words and figured things out and moved on.
“We are in a sport where emotions run high and I am man enough to admit when emotions got the better of me.
“We move [sic] this is why we play this sport because of our love for it – me and Joe Gomez are good, we both understand it was a 5-10 second thing… it’s done, we move forward and not make this bigger than it is.
“Let’s get focus [sic] on our game on Thursday.”
England manager Gareth Southgate compared his squad to “a family” in the aftermath of the incident and said arguments were inevitable.
“I love all of my players. We are like a family. The important thing is for a family to communicate and work through problems,” Southgate said.
“I don’t expect as a manager to not have to deal with issues.”
Pictures from England’s training ground today appeared to show Gomez with a scratch running from his right eye down his cheek, although Southgate refused to say if it was related to the altercation with Sterling.
Southgate did, however, confirm that Sterling was the aggressor in the incident at the team hotel.
England are on the verge of qualifying for next year’s tournament and face Kosovo in Pristina on Sunday after their clash with Montenegro.
