England coach Roy Hodgson insists there's no rift with Liverpool after omitting Daniel Sturridge from his latest squad.
Hodgson left a message for Reds boss Brendan Rodgers about Sturridge's fitness ahead of naming his squad for the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia and friendly in Scotland.
The England manager was not concerned there had been no direct reply from the Reds boss, whose side tackle Premier League leaders Chelsea on Saturday lunchtime.
Asking about the prospect of calling up Sturridge, Hodgson said on Thursday: "That was never a realistic possibility. He is still recovering from the calf injury he picked up.
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"It is unfortunate. We were hoping, of course, to get him back, but it hasn't worked out.
"Our medical staff have had contact.
"I have left a message for Brendan. The message was that it is pretty obvious that Daniel is not fit, and Brendan's not rung back to counter that he actually is."
Hodgson stressed nothing untoward should be read into the lines of communication between national team manager and club boss.
"I left a message for him only last night. Basically it was to tell him that I understood Daniel Sturridge was not fit and there was no need to call me back," Hodgson added.
"It was just to let him know I understood Daniel Sturridge was not fit for these games, so in any questions I was going to get today then the answers I was going to give he would understand them and be happy with, hopefully."
