Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has leapt to the defence of Raheem Sterling, but insists there is no club vs. country row between him and England boss Roy Hodgson.
Sterling, 19, has come in for criticism from some in the last week after Hodgson revealed he had told him he was tired ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifier in Estonia.
The forward was left out of the team for that match -- coming off the bench to win the free kick from which Wayne Rooney scored the only goal -- which led to accusations that he had said he did not want to play.
However, Rodgers, speaking at a news conference, totally rejected those accusations.
"I've obviously read and listened to a lot of what has been said,'' Rodgers said. "He [Sterling] has been absolutely incredible for me and what has been nice to see is his maturity as a young man; he's 19, a full international and he will hopefully be a key player for England and Liverpool for many years.
"This is a kid we bring up to be responsible and honest -- lots of players will tell you they haven't played when they haven't felt right but this is a kid who didn't say that. What he was saying was he felt tired. I've had it a number of times here with Raheem where he has been tired in his legs but he has gone on to play in games and be exceptional.
"What you do as a manager is take on board all the information from the specialists around you and you make your decision. You have to respect Roy's decision that he decide not to play him and play Adam Lallana.
"What has been disappointing in the whole affair is it has been grossly unfair how the kid has been put on the back pages for something he clearly did not say. For a couple of days it probably shook him a little bit but he was brilliant in training this morning.''
In addition to Hodgson making public Sterling's comments, he also questioned Liverpool's use of a 48-hour recovery programme for the likes of the youngster and striker Daniel Sturridge, who has not played since sustaining a thigh injury in an England training session last month.
Hodgson said there was no evidence to suggest the two-day recovery plan worked, but Rodgers defended his methods, while stressing that did not mean he was at odds with England. The pair have exchanged messages about the situation but have yet to speak directly.
"Roy is a manager with great experience who has been around the game long enough and all managers deal with situations different. I am not here to make any comment on that,'' Rodgers added. "One thing to clear up is this second-day recovery: people are looking at it thinking Liverpool players are sat at home with their feet up on the couch.
"The recovery is different for each individual player but our second day of recovery is a technical session outside and the key in that session is the intensity and density of the session -- the spaces are very small which still allows me to do the technical and tactical work required.
"That has worked for me right the way through my life and in my time here I believe it helped Steven Gerarrd and Daniel Agger, when he was here, to play the games they did. I am not waiting to read a thesis in 10 years' time to give me evidence -- we are at the leading edge of the game and we need to create evidence ourselves.
"I also read people talking club vs. country. I am someone who takes great pride in someone playing for their country because I see it as an earmark of how we are developing players. We ask our players to be responsible when they go on international duty, to only think of their country and not their clubs, so this is a club which is very much club and country, not club vs. country.
"People who know me well enough as a coach know Liverpool are not a barrier to England or any country. I will continue to hopefully work for all nations with all the players I work with to help improve them and develop them, and when they move on to play for their countries hopefully they will be better players.''
On a reported face-to-face meeting with Hodgson at Loftus Road on Sunday ahead of Liverpool's match against Queens Park Rangers, Rodgers said: "Things have been written which are not true. We have exchanged messages but because of the busy schedules we have not been able to speak. That is fine.
"From today onwards we want to put this to bed and move on and concentrate on looking after a player who is a young talent who needs to be given space and protection to develop so he can play not only for the next few years but for the next 12 or 13 years.''