Gareth Southgate explains decision to leave out Chelsea superstar from England squad

Gareth Southgate has left Chelsea superstar Raheem Sterling out of his England squad yet again for their games against Australia and Italy.

Sterling was an absentee from Southgate's squad last month as well for their games against Ukraine and Scotland. The manager has now given an explanation for his decision.

Speaking to Football Daily in a press conference, Southgate was asked whether he offered Raheem Sterling an explanation. He said:

"We spoke before the last squad. As I said, we've been happy with the wide players and their performances in the last four games in particular.

"The team are playing well, clearly there's some stability there. We have added Jarrod Bowen in those wide areas. He's scored five in seven games and is playing really well.

"With the Australia game there's an opportunity to learn some new things as well."

You can watch the clip below:

Along with Bowen, Southgate has also given Ollie Watkins the nod. The Aston Villa forward has bagged seven goals and three assists in 11 appearances across competitions this season. He bagged a hat-trick recently against Brighton as his hot streak continues.

Raheem Sterling's exclusion is a surprise but can be rationalized considering his patchy form for Chelsea. Besides his brace against Luton Town, the winger has not provided a single goal contribution in any other Premier League game he featured in this season. This gave Gareth Southgate the perfect chance to add new attackers to the England squad.

Sterling has made a total of 82 appearances for the Three Lions, bagging 20 goals and 27 assists in the process. While he was a mainstay in the starting XI for several years, it looks like the Chelsea forward will have to fight to regain his place in the England squad.

---

Mykhaylo Mudryk first Ukrainian goalscorer for Chelsea since Andriy Shevchenko

Chelsea secured a crucial 2-0 win over Fulham in their last Premier League outing to seal just their second win of the season. Mykhaylo Mudryk grabbed the first goal of that game after bringing down Levi Colwill's pass with a lovely touch before slotting it through Bernd Leno's legs.

In doing so, Mudryk became the first Ukrainian goalscorer for the Blues since Andriy Shevchenko's strike against Bolton Wanderers back in 2008.

Having bagged his first goal for the club, Mudryk will be ready to go with the boost in confidence it has given him.