England boss Gareth Southgate explained why he's left the in-form Raheem Sterling out of his squad.
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00:00 Raheem Sterling has been flying for Chelsea, why is he not there?
00:04 Because of what I said, we were really pleased with the group to bring Raheem back in, we've got to leave somebody else out.
00:13 On the back of three games I didn't think anybody in this group of attacking players warrants being left out.
00:20 So it's really good to see Raheem start the season so well, he looks in good condition, he looks hungry,
00:27 he's obviously an important player for us and has been an important player for us.
00:32 But we have in those attacking areas just behind the nine got a lot of competition for places
00:38 and I think all of those players have started the season well and they've certainly,
00:43 the group that are with us have done really well for us in the recent games.
00:47 We shouldn't have any concerns about his long-term England future here,
00:49 the fact that this is the third squad on the trot I think that he's not been involved in?
00:53 But he was not available for the last two and of course that's given other people the opportunity to play well
01:01 and to establish themselves in the group.
01:04 So it's a difficult call and Raheem's not particularly happy about it but I understand that because he's an important player for us
01:13 and I'm convinced he's going to have an excellent season with Chelsea, there's no doubt about that.