England have confirmed that Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling will be absent from their World Cup last-16 tie against Senegal.
The 27-year-old is dealing with family issues and won't be available for selection for Gareth Southgate in Qatar. Sterling started the first two matches of the tournament but didn't feature against Wales.
Sterling is a trusted member of the Three Lions squad having been ever-present under the current boss since his appointment in 2016 but misses the action due to 'a family matter.'
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The former Manchester City winger has a goal and an assist so far and made a great start to the tournament with a brilliant finish to score the third goal against Iran in the opener.
Chelsea haven't managed to get the best out of Sterling since he joined over the summer but he remains one of the key senior players in this squad. It is the first game at a major tournament in the knockout stages that he has missed since making his debut. He has played almost all of England's major tournament fixtures under Southgate.
The manager chose Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden in his place, Marcus Rashford missed out despite scoring twice against Wales.
Southgate explained the situation, saying: "He’s dealing with a family matter so I’ve had time with him this morning but I’ve now had to pass that onto other people to deal with that.
"He’s going to go and deal with that matter then we’ll have to deal with that matter then we’ll have to take it from there."
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