Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers was delighted with Raheem Sterling’s recent England call up but admits the player needs to keep his feet on the ground and that he could be dropped in the coming weeks.

Despite not being involved in the 90 minute draw with Ukraine, Sterling will have learnt a lot from his experience and his club manager feels it could be the start of something special.

“I got the call from Roy (Hodgson) and he explained the reasons for it,” Rodgers told the Daily Mail.

“He feels he is one for the future and it was an opportunity for Raheem to get a sense of what he can achieve in the next few years.”

“He knows how much work he has to do to get to that level on a consistent basis but the strides he has made for a 17-year-old have been fantastic.”

“We have to keep it in perspective and focus on his development and hopefully in the years to come he can progress and become a very good player for England.”

“He is very level-headed and I have been really impressed by his mentality and it is the job of people who surround him just to support him.”

“As soon as he got the call-up I rang his agent straight away and said ‘Make sure you’re not coming up here in a hurry”.

“There is a plan mapped out for him and I think people know he is in a good place here. The job for the manager is to pick the right opportunity and he has come in and done very well but taking them out at the right time is as important as putting them in.”