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Raheem Sterling is being touted as England’s next big hope but teammate Jordan Henderson is convinced he can keep his feet on the ground.

The 19-year-old Liverpool forward produced a man-of-the-match display at Wembley on Wednesday night as the Three Lions secured an uninspiring win over Norway.

Sterling was the stand-out player in England’s first game following their disastrous World Cup campaign and Henderson has described his club-mate as “outstanding.”

Henderson, who won his 14th cap for his country in midweek, is not surprised by the rapid rise of Sterling who has gone from Liverpool FC prospect to full England international in just over three years.

And the Reds midfielder is backing Sterling to continue his remarkable rise.

“Raheem has been outstanding since he has come into the England first team and at the World Cup,” Henderson said.

“I thought he was outstanding in the two games and for a 19-year-old to play on the world stage like that, I thought he was magnificent.

“He continues to do it for Liverpool every week and he rightly got man-of-the-match on Wednesday.

“He is a very level-headed young lad for a 19-year-old.

“His football brain is not as young as that, though.

“He is really clever in his positioning and he drives with the ball.

“He is outstanding and hopefully he can keep on improving.

“He plays with no fear, which is important, he just wants to get on the ball, run at people and make things happen.

“He was a big plus for us on Wednesday night and hopefully he can do the same on Monday.”

Asked if he was surprised at the speed of Sterling’s progression, Henderson said: “Not really.

“He was 16 when I first saw him when he was training with us in the first team.

“You knew he was a talented player and could see he had the mentality to be a top player.

“But he has got to keep his feet on the ground. He is only 19, he has the right people around him at the club and off the field as well which is really important.

“If he keeps working hard, especially with the manager here and at Liverpool and the players here and at Liverpool, then they can really help him kick on.

“I don’t think Raheem would (get carried away).

“I see him off the field and he has the right people around him. I’m sure no-one would let him.”

Henderson added: “It’s not that difficult to keep grounded.

“It depends on what type of person you are.

“ The most important thing around you is your family and friends and you just have to concentrate on your football and not let the outside affect you.

“You’ve just got to work hard in training and try to improve your game all the time.”

Reds boss Brendan Rodgers regularly praises Sterling for his tactical flexibility.

The teenage flier has shown himself equally adept at playing out wide or in a number 10 role – at the tip of Rodgers’s favoured ‘diamond’ formation.

Sterling played on the left wing at Wembley but Henderson says his teammate is excellent wherever he plays.

“He is brilliant in both positions and it is vital he can play so well in both so well because he can adapt to different formations and tactics,” said Henderson.

Sterling and Henderson were joined by Liverpool teammate Daniel Sturridge in the England starting line-up.

Rickie Lambert was a late substitute and with Glen Johnson, Adam Lallana and Jon Flanagan to come back into the national team picture, the Reds are well represented in Roy Hodgson’s squad.

And though Henderson says having your club-mates on international duty helps, he insists there is a strong bond between all the players in the Three Lions set-up.

“We know each other really well and we’re with each other everyday but I don’t like to think about that too much when I come here because I feel we get on really well as a group,” he said.

“I’ve played with a lot of the lads in the U21s and I feel as though the group is really strong.”

England received widespread criticism for their dull performance against Norway but Henderson, 24, was left satisfied with their display.

“It was important that we won the game, so we were pleased with that,” he said.

“We did a lot of good work with the ball and I thought we dominated even though Norway made it difficult at times.

“But overall, in the first half I thought we were good. Second half, we started sloppy and slow but we will look back at that.

“But we finished with a clean sheet and we had been working on our defence over the few days before the game.

“I thought the whole team was strong.

“We will look back and we can certainly improve but we look forward to the game in Switzerland on Monday.”