After hearing the tragic news about Eric Ten Hag this morning, Manchester United fans are in tears. Please bring back Eric Ten Hag

Raheem Sterling has a “fight on his hands” to get his England career back on track, according to Gareth Southgate.

The forward for Chelsea has played for England 82 times since his debut in 2012, and 18 of his 20 goals have come while Southgate has been in charge. He didn’t make the England team on Thursday, though, which was the sixth time in a row that he didn’t make it.

Sterling hasn’t played for England since the 2022 World Cup quarterfinal loss to France in Qatar. In that time, players like Jarrod Bowen, Cole Palmer, and Anthony Gordon have risen above him in the England team’s rankings.

Sterling has played in all but three of Chelsea’s Premier League games this season, but as the season has gone on, he has played less and less.

The England manager Southgate said, “Well, it’s not shut,” when asked if Sterling could still play for England.

“At Chelsea right now, Cole is the one who starts every game and they have to leave on.” He is going to have to fight because Anthony Gordon is playing well and Bowen has scored a lot of goals. Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka have done things that we know about now for a long time.

It’s the same thing I’ve said many times: that’s the part of the pitch where we have the most fight for spots. Because we know he can do well in our setting in the games that matter, we won’t close the door. We can see him behind those guys right now, though.

Sterling, who turns 30 this year, has been captain of England sometimes under Southgate and has been upset in private when he hasn’t been picked for recent teams.

Southgate said about Sterling, “I know we’ve always tried to find a balance between faithfulness and who can do the job for us. I also think that over time we’ve given players a chance to form, and we’re doing that again with Gordon.”