Gareth Southgate explained Raheem Sterling is dealing with a family matter hence making him unable to play for England in Sunday's World Cup last-16 win over Senegal.
The Three Lions boss was unable to confirm either way whether the Chelsea winger will be back for England, should the national side progress, or if this could be the end of his tournament. Sterling has flown home to check on the welfare of his family after his home was broken into by robbers.
Southgate said before the match on ITV: "He is dealing with a family matter, I had quite a bit of time with him this morning but now I have had to pass him on to other people to help him with that."
On whether this could be the end of the road for Sterling in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Southgate added: "He is going to have to deal with that matter and then we will take it from there."
Speaking after the game - which England won comfortably 3-0 to set up a quarter-final tie against France on Saturday - Southgate said: " We will have to wait and see, at the moment, clearly priority is for him to be with his family and we’re going to support that.
"We’re going to allow him to have as much time as he needs. He’s going home, yeah. I really don’t know because at the moment it’s a situation that he needs time with his family to deal with and I don’t want to put him under any pressure.
"Sometimes football isn’t the most important thing and family should come first."
While Sterling's absence was a blow to Southgate, the England boss watched on as his side earned a crucial victory to progress to thge next round. Southgate made a big call in dropping the in-form Marcus Rashford for the last-16 clash with Senegal.
The England manager named the Manchester United forward on the bench with Bukayo Saka taking his place in the starting XI.
Southgate said of Saka: "He was excellent in our first two matches, we thought Marcus was very good and it's good to have him to come on as the game opens up.
"So we've of course got an embarrassment of riches in that area of the pitch.
"We're delighted with Bukayo's performances and we think Phil [Foden] and him deserve their opportunity."
His decision was justified as Saka was among the scorers - netting England's third after earlier goals from Jordan Henderson and Harry Kane.
Southgate said of his side: "I think the progress they’re making is phenomenal. The team have made a very complicated game tonight look very straightforward and that wasn’t the case. Because of the mentality, attitude, we made it look that way."
