Gareth Southgate can understand if Raheem Sterling is not "hugely enthusiastic" about him after dropping the Manchester City star for his part in an altercation with Joe Gomez, but is hopeful time heals any ill-feeling. England confirmed on Monday Sterling would not to be considered for selection when Montenegro visit this Thursday following a bust-up with Gomez.
The pair clashed during Sunday's Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool and were involved in an incident in a private area of England's St George's Park training base. Details appeared in the media before England released a statement to confirm a row had taken place and that Sterling had been dropped as a consequence.
Some former players have suggested Southgate had been too heavy-handed in his approach and the manager accepts Sterling may not be keen on him for the time being.
"Well, I wouldn’t imagine that he's hugely enthusiastic [about Southgate], but I can understand that," he told reporters on Wednesday. "In the end, he's with the group, that's the most important thing. He's a massive part of what we do – has been, will be."
"He's with us for the game, he's back with the team on the training pitch enjoying his football. [He] trained superbly well, as he always does. So, for me, the thing is finished. I know, as a player, my relationship with my managers and how I felt about them changed day to day, and there were many occasions when I had the hump with them, usually when I wasn’t in the team."
"So, I understand that, I hope that time takes its course on those things. As a manager, you hope that you bring lots of good moments for players. There are those occasions where you give them their debut, you give them the chance to play, but there are inevitably occasions when you don't start them, where you have to take them off, and that will always be the landscape."
The Sterling and Gomez controversy comes just before a vital couple of matches, with England still to secure its place at Euro 2020. Despite the poor timing of such a situation, Southgate insists life is rarely simple with England. When asked if the past week had been the trickiest as England boss, Southgate said: "Most of them are pretty difficult weeks."
"I don't remember many… I don't know what a normal week with England would be, frankly. So, the key is always to go and win the football matches and that's where my focus has been for the last 48 hours and for the three weeks before that."
"So, any manager of any big club or big nation knows that all of those situations are difficult. We're under huge scrutiny for performance and everything else, so I haven't viewed this as any more or less difficult than anything else."
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