Joe Gomez shows scratch under eye as he trains with Raheem Sterling less than 24 hours after England canteen bust-up
ENGLAND star Joe Gomez has been snapped with a scratch by his right eye following his bust-up with Raheem Sterling yesterday at the England training base.
The duo were also seen training together ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro on Thursday.
Gomez wasn’t pictured with a scratch by his eye over the weekend where he helped Liverpool move eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Sterling, 24, will not be available for selection after reportedly ‘trying to grab Gomez around the neck’.
It has been claimed that the duo had to be pulled apart by their Three Lions team-mates in the canteen at St George’s Park just hours after they clashed at Anfield.
The pair also had to be separated on the pitch in the dying embers of the Reds’ 3-1 win against the Citizens on Sunday.
According to the Mirror, after being shoved by Gomez, Sterling walked up to him and said, “Don’t f*** with me, Joe. Don’t f*** with me”, with the ex-Charlton man responding by saying “come on” before being pulled away.
Sterling has since issued an apology over the incident that occurred yesterday, where he is said to have asked Gomez if he was “still the big man”.
In a statement, Sterling 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 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.”
It has been reported that Gomez asked Southgate not to send Sterling home after their altercation, with Sterling believed to be available for selection against Kosovo on Sunday.
Southgate this afternoon defended his decision to go public, amid criticism that he should have kept the buts-up private.
He said: “Should it have been made public or not – in the end when you have made a decision like that it’s going to be public on Wednesday or Thursday anyway and I’d have to deal with it then.
“I’d rather have to deal with it now so we can all focus on the game. The decision’s been made, and as a group we are all moving forward and concentrating on the football.
“It’s important to always be as fair as possible in any decision, whether that’s a senior or junior player, quite a number of our senior players have been active in discussions during yesterday.
“That’s an important process because I want to get a feel for where the group are. But then I am the manager, I have certain decisions that are my responsibility and that I was prepared to take.”
Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell has declared the group have moved on from the situation, as he said: “Gareth spoke about the situation and spoke about what he thought, and he also wanted to know what we thought about it.
“Joe and Raheem got the chance to talk, which they both wanted to do. For Raheem, he wanted to apologise and Joe wanted to get stuff off his chest as well. That was it done then.
“[Sterling] was apologetic. He said it’s not in his nature, which it’s not. We all know as footballers that emotions can run high. There’s no-one trying to make excuses for him, including himself.
“Gareth didn’t want to make a decision himself, he was keen we came to the right decision with the leadership group.
“It got spoken about between the leadership group and Gareth. The decision has been made and we’re all very on board with that.
“Since then it’s not been spoken of. It got squashed yesterday [Monday]. We’ve moved on and trained as normal this morning.”
Sterling was on his way home to Manchester after being initially thrown out of the England squad, before he was given a late reprieve by Southgate.
It has been claimed that the forward was in the car on his way back up north before getting a late call to regroup with the squad.
Southgate is believed to have had a change of heart after a meeting with senior players of the England dressing room where they stated that Sterling will could stay in the squad if Gomez accepted his personal apology.
Former England international Rio Ferdinand has slammed Southgate over his treatment of Sterling, as he stated he he shouldn’t have “hang him out to dry”.
But his ex-Manchester United team-mate Gary Neville has insisted Southgate was wright to drop Sterling.
He told Sky Sports: “What I would say is that the decision that Gareth has made… I feel like it’s the right one without knowing the detail of what’s gone on.
“There’s nothing worse than sweeping it under the carpet, and then all the players going back to their own rooms they all share together, and having that feeling that they’re all talking about you being weak, and that you’ve not dealt with it because he’s a big player and that he’s shied away from a big decision.
“So I feel that it’s the right decision. Ultimately, if it’s an incident that’s happened in front of the rest of the squad that couldn’t be dealt with internally and there was a breach of discipline then the manager has to act.
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“Sometimes it can cause you some problems down the line, because players can then go back to their own rooms, and say ‘the manager’s been harsh, there – he’s one of our best mates, he’s one of our best players’.
“But at least, if you’re the manager, you know you’ve made the right decision based upon your principles and your values – that’s what you should go with.”
England need just one point in their final two qualifying matches to seal their place in next summer’s tournament, but know Czech Republic in second are hot on their heels.