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Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson acted as the peacemaker in the Raheem Sterling vs Joe Gomez row - despite having not yet joined up with the England squad.

Sterling and Gomez clashed at St George's Park on Monday the day after a heated exchange between the duo on the pitch as Liverpool beat Manchester City at Anfield.

Forward Sterling took issue with Gomez's offer of a handshake - from behind - and attempted to grab the defender before teammates stepped in following a verbal row.

Henderson is suspended for England's Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro on Thursday and is due to join up with the rest of the squad on Wednesday.

(Image: Eddie Keogh for The FA/REX)

But that didn't stop the Reds captain from intervening - calling both players individually to get them together for a handshake.

Sterling has subsequently apologised for the incident but has been dropped from the squad for the Montenegro game - a punishment some England stars see as unnecessary.

The Man City winger is understood to be unhappy at the punishment as he insists the situation has been resolved.

(Image: Action Images via Reuters)

In a statement posted on his Instagram page on Monday night, Sterling wrote: "First and foremost everyone knows what this game means to me!

"Everyone knows that I am not that way inclined and more to the point, both Joe and I have had words and figured things out and moved on.

"We are in a sport where emotions run high and I am man enough to admit when emotions get the better of me.

"We move this is why we play this sport because of our love for it - me and @joegomez5 are good we both understand it was a 5-10 second thing it's done we move forward and not make this bigger than it is.

"Let's get focus on our game on Thursday."