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Southgate's support

England gaffer Gareth Southgate backs ‘mentally tough’ Raheem Sterling to come back even stronger after a bumpy week

Manchester City ace was hooked off at half-time against Malta after being sent off and nearly sold to Arsenal during a crazy seven days

GARETH SOUTHGATE has backed Raheem Sterling to emerge stronger from his nightmare week.

The Manchester City winger, sent off at Bournemouth last weekend, looked to be leaving the Etihad as a makeweight in a blockbuster deal with Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez.

 Gareth Southgate has given Raheem Sterling his support after a bumpy week
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Gareth Southgate has given Raheem Sterling his support after a bumpy weekCredit: Getty Images - Getty
 Raheem Sterling was hooked off at half-time in the win over Malta
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Raheem Sterling was hooked off at half-time in the win over MaltaCredit: AP:Associated Press

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Embarrassingly, he was hooked at HALF-TIME after a dismal display during England’s 4-0 win over Malta on Friday.

But Three Lions boss Southgate insists he will support Sterling — even if his future at club level looks uncertain.

He said: “I think he is a strong kid. Mentally he is tough and he has bounced back from things throughout his career.

“I have no doubt in my mind that he will cope with that and he started the season with Manchester City well — a club where they have an incredible amount of attacking talent but he is right in the mix with them.”

Sterling, 22, began the season on the bench for City and is competing for a starting place with the likes of £43million signing Bernardo Silva.

But he came on to rescue City against Everton and earned a start at Bournemouth, where he scored the winner but was then controversially sent off for inciting the crowd and received a second yellow card.

 Raheem Sterlingwas sent off after scoring a late winner for Man City a week ago
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Raheem Sterlingwas sent off after scoring a late winner for Man City a week agoCredit: Rex Features
 Raheem Sterling almost left Man City as a makeweight to bring Alexis Sanchez to the Etihad
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Raheem Sterling almost left Man City as a makeweight to bring Alexis Sanchez to the EtihadCredit: PA:Press Association

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His half-time substitution in Malta was the latest episode in his chequered England career.

At Euro 2016, Sterling was singled out for criticism and branded himself the “Hated One” on social media.

But Southgate said: “He’s a lad we love. It’s difficult but he took it really professionally.
“He is a player we have a lot of time for. He’s really ballsy.

“As a creative player, some days everything you do works and some days it doesn’t. It is much harder to be a creative player than a lump like I was. I was just stopping people and that is much easier.

“To go and beat people, and beat people in tight spaces, some days it happens and some days it doesn’t.

“You could see in the first half, it was the latter for Raheem but he will bounce back from that.” Southgate admits he could have given Sterling more time to play himself into the Malta game.

He explained: “We thought about that but we felt it was the best thing to do. It is always easier with players to give them the extra ten to 15 minutes but I am paid to make right decisions, not decisions that keep everyone happy.”

Southgate will make a late decision on starting Sterling against Slovakia at Wembley tomorrow, depending on the fitness of Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford.

On Rashford, Southgate said: “He hasn’t trained a huge amount for Manchester United the week before he joined us and there was an element of that in the decision we made.

"We have got options and that’s a great position for us to be in.”

England will move a step closer to the World Cup if they defeat the Slovaks, who are second in Group F, two points behind the Three Lions.

Southgate’s side struggled against Malta before racking up four goals and he wants to test his team against better countries.

Germany and Brazil are pencilled in to play in November and the Three Lions will travel to Holland in March.

 Marcus Rashford is pushing for a starting role against Slovakia
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Marcus Rashford is pushing for a starting role against SlovakiaCredit: Rex Features

Southgate said: “If we get Monday right we are in a fantastic position and, after that, we have to play the best and really test ourselves.

“People talk about the problems with tournaments. For me, it’s not about training or hotels or anything like that.

“It’s because we are playing the best teams and we have to keep playing those teams to get better. You face different challenges in an England shirt.

“Malta was one of those unique challenges. I go back to Andorra and Steve McClaren at that time, and I’ve seen these things happen before.

“This was a massive help to me because I know the importance of staying calm, talking to them in the right way and highlighting the things we need to keep doing.

“The view of a game is always swayed by emotion and I have to try not to be carried away like that.

“And teams (from abroad) that have all those players that you talk about have not come here and beaten Malta by sixes and sevens.”

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