• England

Sterling to skip England friendly

Raheem Sterling will become the third Liverpool player to withdraw from the England squad this week after the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania on Friday.

England national team coach Roy Hodgson will let Sterling miss the friendly against Italy on Tuesday in order to rest an irksome toe injury.

Liverpool want to make sure he is fully fit when they make the trip to Arsenal in the lunchtime kick-off on the Saturday after the Italy game which looks like a crucial match in the battle for Champions League places.

Hodgson named an initial 24-man squad for the two Spring fixtures, but he has already lost Sterling's Liverpool team-mates Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana to injury, as well as Fraser Forster and Luke Shaw. So far only goalkeepers Rob Green and Jack Butland, plus Spurs pair Ryan Mason and Danny Rose, have been called up as replacements.

Midfielder Jordan Henderson is the only remaining Liverpool player committed to being with the England squad for both matches.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers and Hodgson, who was in charge at Anfield in 2010, have clashed on several occasions over Sterling's workload this season, particularly after Sterling claimed that he was too tired to train after England's 5-0 win over San Marino in October.

Sterling, who has come under fire from Harry Redknapp for delaying talks over a new deal at Liverpool, only played 45 minutes against San Marino, but was allowed to withdraw from England's match against Estonia two days later.

Hodgson said that he expects further players to withdraw before they fly out for the international in the Juventus Stadium, the fixture coming just nine months after Italy beat England 2-1 at the World Cup.

He said: "Apart from all those players that I've suggested or have said aren't here through injury I fear we're going to lose a few more.

"There's one or two that I know won't be able to join us against Italy because of the current problems that they're dealing with at the moment, so on this occasion in particular it won't be as strong a team as I maybe would have liked to put out.

"In England, unfortunately you're always judged harshly and you're in the spotlight because everyone wants England to do well and believes we can do well.

"We'll accept that, but as far as I'm concerned, it's still the qualifiers that I put top of my list of priorities even though on paper Italy are a stronger team to play than Lithuania."

Raheem Sterling will be fit to play against Lithuania, but is expected to miss the Italy friendly © PA Photos

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