Roy Hodgson warned over Raheem Sterling as Daniel Sturridge is ruled out for FOUR weeks

Posted Saturday, October 18, 2014 by Dailystar.co.uk

BRENDAN RODGERS tonight warned England boss Roy Hodgson he will have to fight to regain Raheem Sterling's trust.

TRUST ISSUES: Brendan Rodgers believes Roy Hodgson hung Raheem Sterling out to dry by revealing that the teenager was tired

The Liverpool manager, who learned today that Daniel Sturridge will be out for another four weeks, believes Hodgson should not have revealed Sterling told him he was tired on the eve of the Euro 2016 qualifier against Estonia.

The youngster was hammered by pundits and fans this week with Rodgers saying on Thursday Sterling had been "hung out to dry".

Rodgers said: "I'm sure when they meet up next they will speak on that and clear that up.

"My only focus is getting Raheem's confidence up and he is looking forward to the weekend's game against QPR. I'm sure it is something that will be managed.

"I think you have seen that I have questioned one player in public in terms of improvement, which was Stewart Downing [who later left for West Ham].

"But there was a reason for that and I think you will find after that he got into the team and played for six months.

"Other than that, in my opinion, every conversation you have with a player and another manager is private. That is it.

"That's how I work and I am sure Roy will probably look at this episode and analyse where he can be better on it, but it's not for me to get involved."

Rodgers feels the whole situation surrounding Sterling is grossly unfair after insisting he was wrongly accused of asking to miss the game.

He added: "I think it is grossly unfair. You'll speak to players that have played the game for a long time and they will tell you they've gone into a game and haven't been right.

"They've come out of the game and let the team down.

"The responsibility for a 19-year-old boy to say he was tired, he didn't say he didn't want to play, he did not say that. This is a kid who loves playing."

Sterling is expected to feature against his former club QPR on Sunday.

But a big blow for Rodgers is that Sturridge will not make the trip with Mario Balotelli set to start.

The Anfield boss had been counting down the days to get the striker back in his squad as his side have struggled without him since he picked up a thigh injury on England duty last month.

The former Chelsea front man had taken longer than expected to get over the problem, but in his first full session with the first team on Thursday he pulled up with a calf injury.

Sturridge's injury is likely to keep him out for up to four weeks which will mean he may not return to action until November 8 - just a week before England play Slovenia in their next qualifier.

Rodgers will not be keen on letting Sturridge go away unless he is fully fit but the last thing the Liverpool boss and Hodgson will want is more tension between club and country.