Gareth Southgate considered not selecting Raheem Sterling for England’s 2-1 friendly victory over Nigeria but decided he should after the Manchester City forward spent a week on the front pages of some English newspapers.
Some sections of the media objected to a tattoo commemorating Sterling’s father, while there was more relevant criticism after the 23-year-old reported for training late having already been given an extra day off for personal reasons.
Southgate was not happy with Sterling’s time-keeping, and said after the game on Saturday that he might have left him out of his starting XI.
“I had a decision to make whether to play him after turning up late,” Southgate said. “But actually that wasn’t a decision after he started to come under fire from every other direction.
“That was 10 days ago as well. How long do we go on with something? You’ve always got to balance what the message is to the rest of the group, and what’s most important at that moment in time.
“The situation was one we didn’t want to happen. We don’t want to see that happen again. But that was the best way to deal with it in my opinion at this moment.
“The most important thing I do in the next six weeks is protect the players. They respect each other and understand how important it is they support and protect each other. I got the level I expected from Raheem.”