Gareth Southgate labels England squad as a 'family' after Sterling-Gomez clash

England manr Gareth Southgate has moved to extinguish fire of bust-up between Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez. Southgate has compared his England squad to a "family" after altercation between Sterling and Gomez. His comments come after Liverpool vs Manchester City rivalry boiled over to England squad when Manchester City's Raheem Sterling was involved in a physical altercation with Liverpool's Joe Gomez.

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Gareth Southgate allays fears of a rift in England squad

Gareth Southgate moved to quell any fears of a rift in England squad during a press conference on Tuesday. Southgate played down magnitude of incident and claimed that he loves all of his players and that important thing for his "family" (read: England squad) is to communicate and work through any problems that may arise. However, Southgate has stood by his decision to leave Sterling out of squad for England's upcoming Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro.

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Joe Gomez was brought on late in Liverpool vs Manchester City game in place of Mohamed Salah. Gomez and Sterling were n involved in a mir tussle during dying minutes of game when Sterling tried to steal ball away from Joe Gomez. Tensions boiled over when Gomez proved to be too strong for Sterling and Sterling failed in his challenge. Gomez n appeared to shove Man City winger, but two were n separated by rest of players on pitch. 

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Sterling n carried se tensions over to St. George's Park where England squad gared for training prior to ir Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro. Sterling was once again involved in an altercation with Liverpool centre-back when he had a furious row with Gomez just 24 hours after Liverpool vs Man City game. However, Sterling n made peace with Gomez and also released a statement of apology on social media claiming that pair had figured things out after incident. Despite apology, Gareth Southgate has opted to leave Raheem Sterling out of squad to face Montenegro. Interestingly, game against Montenegro will also be England's 1000th game in world football. 

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