Raheem Sterling axed by England after bust up with rival Joe Gomez

Manchester City star Raheem Sterling has been axed from the England squad for Thursday's qualifier against Montenegro after clashing with Liverpool's Joe Gomez. 

According to various reports in England, Sterling kicked off when Gomez, whose Liverpool side had beaten City 3-1 the day before, came to shake his hand. 

The two had clashed on the pitch at Anfield and that spilled over to the England camp when the two came face to face in the canteen. 

Coach Gareth Southgate has subsequently taken the decision to drop Sterling, although he will remain with the squad and could feature against Kosovo on Sunday. 

"We have taken the decision to not consider Raheem for the match against Montenegro on Thursday," Southgate confirmed. "One of the great challenges and strengths for us is that we’ve been able to separate club rivalries from the national team.

"Unfortunately the emotions of yesterday’s game were still raw. My feeling is that the right thing for the team is the action we have taken.

"Now that the decision has been made with the agreement of the entire squad, it’s important that we support the players and focus on Thursday night."

Sterling, posting on social media, said: "First and foremost everyone knows what that game means to me! 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 this is why we play this sport because of our love for it - me and @joegomez5 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 on our game on Thursday."