England boss Roy Hodgson insists it is "unfair" if the responsibility
for resting Raheem Sterling
falls on him alone.
Hodgson dropped Sterling for Sunday's 1-0 win over Estonia in the Euro 2016 qualifier
after the winger complained of fatigue.
He refused to criticise the 19-year-old, and instead told
his Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers he
must do his bit to ensure the player gets back to his best.
"We do have to take players' workload into
consideration, and there are going to be times in top league teams where
players suffer from some sort of physical and mental fatigue, but I think it's
a bit unfair if all the expectations to give the player a little bit of a break
fall on my shoulders," he said, after the omission drew an angry backlash
from fans.
Hodgson, however, says he was happy to leave Sterling out of
his team for the game in Tallinn and maintains the teenager has done nothing
wrong.
"He broke into the Liverpool team and had a fantastic season and
then went to the World Cup... He is only a 19-year-old," Hodgson said.
"It is not as simple as the training you are having may
be taking a bit of juice from your legs.
"There is an awful lot going on in your head as well so
perhaps (the reason he is tired) is quite simply (because) the season has not
started as well for Liverpool, he is in the spotlight for England and
Liverpool... Maybe that has had some effect. I don't know. It's a theory."
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