Joe Gomez has been pictured in England training with a scratch beneath his right eye following his altercation with Raheem Sterling.
The Liverpool defender and the Manchester City forward were involved in a confrontation at St George’s Park on Monday after linking up for international duty.
The altercation occurred less than 24 hours after the pair had clashed during Liverpool’s win over Man City and resulted in Sterling being told he would not be picked for Thursday’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro – which is LIVE on talkSPORT.
Both men trained on Tuesday and appeared in jovial spirits, but a scratch was visible on Gomez’s face in the wake of the incident.
It is understood Sterling was initially sent home by Gareth Southgate, before the England boss changed his mind and decided to keep him at St George’s Park. He informed the forward of his decision via phone as Sterling was driving home.
He will instead remain part of the squad but will miss Thursday’s match, although he remains available for the qualifier in Kosovo three days later and must wait to see if he is selected.
Sterling, 24, sparked the confrontation, with Gomez not reacting to the provocation, and apologised for his actions via a social media post sent out in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“First and foremost everyone knows what that game means to me,” he wrote.
“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.
Raheem Sterling-Joe Gomez bust-up
“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.”
His apology came after the Football Association confirmed an incident had taken place, with the governing body branding the bust-up ‘a disturbance in a private team area’.
Southgate said of his decision to drop Sterling: “We have taken the decision to not consider Raheem for the match against Montenegro on Thursday.
“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.”
The England boss will address the media at 3pm on Tuesday and is sure to face numerous questions on the incident and Sterling’s punishment.
