Sunday 24 March 2019 23:22, UK
England manager Gareth Southgate has revealed that he has added Raheem Sterling to his 'leadership group' of senior players.
The group also contains captain Harry Kane, as well as other experienced internationals such as Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier.
The in-form Sterling scored a hat-trick as Southgate's side got their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign underway with an impressive 5-0 win over the Czech Republic on Friday night.
Sterling is expected to be in the line-up once again when the Three Lions face Montenegro in Podgorica on Monday evening and, ahead of the game, Southgate said Sterling had joined Kane and company in the leadership team.
"In between November and March, observing his maturity and influence, I felt that would be a good step for him," said Southgate.
"I think when you speak to other young players, he's one of the first they speak about making them feel really comfortable in the environment.
"That was a really important move for him."
Southgate stopped short of hailing Sterling as a potential future England captain but believes he is showing similar traits to those who have worn the armband previously.
"We've had three or four players captaining the team, and Raheem is developing lots of the qualities those guys have," he said.
"He has those qualities.
"It's difficult to talk about a potential captain when the captain (Kane) is in the hotel waiting to go out for dinner but, in terms of his personal qualities, he's shown some outstanding personal qualities."
