i don't expect to never have to deal with things that are either unexpected or difficult. yesterday's clash came after the two players were involved in an angry confrontation towards the end of liverpool's 3—1 victory over manchester city, the biggest game of the season so far, and tensions remained long after the final whistle. sterling has apologised, saying... club rivalries used to plague england, but the irony of what has happened here is that team unity has been such a key part of southgate‘s success as england manager, and it is the desire to preserve the togetherness of the squad that has led him to drop arguably his most important player. i think for it to happen, for it to boil overfrom a game of the weekend before is one that i've never really come across before. i've seen it boil over

in training practice sessions, in matches and things like that between players, but never over dinner or within sort of the relaxed confines of your own training camp. the public fallout has overshadowed preparations for what will be england's1000th men's international, but southgate hopes that short—term pain will bring long—term gains. katie gornall, bbc news, st george's park. that's it. newsnight is getting under way with emily maitlis on bbc two. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm gavin ramjaun. raheem sterling says he and joe gomez have ‘figured things out and moved on‘, but the england forward is dropped for their euro qualifier, after their bust up.

a win is a win. but it's unconvincing from england, as they scramble a victory against czech republic. and allegations of doping, at british cycling. former boss shane sutton hits back, at the tribunal of the team's ex—doctor. it is not life—changing to me. i'm just hoping that they come out the truth. hello and welcome to sportsday, i'm gavin ramjaun. england manager gareth southgate has been speaking to the media today. ahead of their euro 2020 qualifier against montenegro. he compared his squad to "a family" — in the aftermath

of raheem sterling's confrontation withjoe gomez saying arguments are inevitable. the two players trained together today, at st george's park — but gomez appeared with a scratch under his eye. although southgate refused to say, if it was related although southgate refused to say, if it was related to the altercation with sterling. the manchester city forward, who was involved in a scuffle with liverpool's gomez at anfield on sunday, has been dropped for the match at wembley — but the manager wouldn't be drawn on why he'd reached that decision. my my priority is always the care and well—being of all of my players. all of my players. and then you have a decision to make as to whether there needs to be something further, which is the right thing for the group moving forward, which was my reason for not selecting him for the game on thursday in regards to whether that should've been made public or

not we've that should've been made public or not that, ‘ve that should've been made public or not that, ite that should've been made public or not that, it is going to decision like that, it is going to be public on wednesday or thursday a nyway be public on wednesday or thursday anyway and i'll have to deal with that then. i would rather deal with it now so that we all focus on the game. decision has been made and as a group, we are moving forward and concentrating on football. one other line to bring you — fabian delph has left the england squad, to continue his recovery from a hamstring injury. action from this evening now. and the welsh women's side had to settle for a point in northern ireland, in their euro 2021 qualifer, missing the chance to close the gap on group leaders norway. both sides had chances to win it, but it finished goalless at seaview, wales keeper laura o'sullivan did brilliantly to keep out striker simone magill in the first half, wales remain second, but still unbeaten, wales keeper laura o'sullivan did brilliantly to keep out striker simone magill in the first half, wales remain second, but still unbeaten, 4 points off norway. northern ireland are second from bottom. england's women were in action too. the lionesses beat the czech republic in a friendly,

but were far from convincing. still, the win eases some of the pressure on boss phil neville. former england player sue smith says the win will help the players relax, after losing five of their last seven before tonight's victory. i think the most important thing was for england to get the victory in the fact that i think they can all go away and relax over christmas. they can recharge, reflect on what is happened since the world cup and performance —wise, it was not good enough, a bit sloppy in possession. and i think that is where england need to improve. yes, they created some opportunities but they could've committed more players forward and so if you look at the positives, you could say they went a goal down, they managed to go back in the master sure that character to come back, but they're playing against the site that is ranked 28 in the world, they should not have to go against the side like that. they've

set the bar for against the side like that. they've set the barfor a against the side like that. they've set the bar for a very good world cup and now the performances have to match that. want to go out there and become victorious. does this relieve the pressure on neville for a bit? because they were saying she had a poor run of form. will make the players are putting a lot of pressure on themselves which is more than we can put on them because they will be hypercritical with everything with all of their analysis, they will know the performances are not good enough and they should be beating the likes of they should be beating the likes of the czech republic and dominating the czech republic and dominating the games. so if there's any pressure from fa, they'll be putting that pressure on himself. we have to be better, we all know that i do think it is a case of reflecting the christmas —— reflecting over christmas —— reflecting over christmas and they need to start

with a good performance and hopefully that will build towards the olympics and the euros the year after. a bit nervous earlier on, you played in front of several thousand people in 700 people here, that ta kes people in 700 people here, that takes some character. these players very rarely let me down as a manager. i very rarely let me down as a manager. lam very rarely let me down as a manager. i am proud of their work over the past 12 months and now we have just got to stop talking and just keep working hard and deliver prayer performances — — just keep working hard and deliver prayer performances —— better performances. the medical tribunal of dr richard freeman, the former medic at british cycling, continues in manchester, and there were some heated exchanges today, as the former technical director shane sutton gave evidence — before storming out. our sports editor dan roan was there. in this case, it is cast a shadow over the most successful olympic and paralympic sport, but months of legal argument but finally it

exploded into life. at the heart of it is the former head doctor who stands accused of having ordered a batch of testosterone to the headquarters in 2011 to dope an unnamed writer to enhance their performance. their sankey ordered it for the former head coach erectile dysfunction. freemans lawyer accused him of being a serial liar and a doper. saying that she had been contacted doper. saying that she had been co nta cted by doper. saying that she had been contacted by an anonymous witness, saying that he injected himself with testosterone. when he was still a rider, he denied that clearly furious. accusing overworked of being a liarand furious. accusing overworked of being a liar and a bully. saying that freeman should look him in the iron up and a standard has been erected between the two men because freeman is being treated as a

vulnerable witness. he said he would ta ke vulnerable witness. he said he would take a lie detector test and he stormed out of the tribunal hearing and afterwards he said the media that he may consider returning to give evidence. at the end of the day, i know i never made that order andl day, i know i never made that order and i will go back in on thursday and i will go back in on thursday and continue, if i do return. what is there to resolve? it is a simple question? did you or did you not order a product and the leather believe me or believe him. but it is not life—changing to me. i am just hoping that, richard comes out and tells the truth. other stories making the headlines in sport today. the scotland captain andy robertson, won't play in theirfinal two euro qualifiers. he has an ankle problem. the liverpool defender will miss the trip to cyprus— and the home game against kazakhstan next week. wales centrejonathan davies is out for six months. he's had surgery after picking up a knee injury at the rugby world cup. he'll definitely miss the next six nations championship,

and fly—half rhys patchell is a doubt for the tournament. he has a serious shoulder injury. dom sibley and zak crawley have impressed the england selectors. ahead of the first test against new zealand next week. both scored centuries, as england reached 285 for one against a kiwi xi. novak djokovic is playing dominic thiem at the atp world tour finals, at london's o2 arena. it's gone to a deciding set in that onein the same group earlier, roger federer recovered from his first match loss — to defeat matteo berretini in straight sets. austin halewood was watching. before a possible early exit, day three of the world tour finals but already a winner takes all. although u nfortu nately, already a winner takes all. although unfortunately, roger federer stood in his way. the 20 time grand slam champion was comfortably beaten in his first match. but he was leaving

it quietly. his touch definitely back. the italian has risen over 100 places in the world rankings over the past two years news clear to see why. as he forced the first set tie—break. but that is where roger fetters at his best, so cool and clinical when matters most. the root number three with the first set. the italian was thrashed by roger federer and woodward this year. his improvement of the past few months was clear to see but still this was had the edge. his game to control, to precise and in the end just too good. i had today off and there are ways to get rid of that loss, this hang out with your kids would do that for me and that is what we did and we had a good as a team and not try to think about it too much. i should take the positives out of the first match against dominic. not

everything was back, was ready and is prepared today and is what the most right now. is seventh title is still very much a possibility. roger federer back on track. there's been more success for the british team at the world para athletics championships in dubai as sophie hahn wins a gold medal, here's our reporter kate grey: she has won the seventh gold of these championships and a new world record time, so used to doing this. she had six royal titles in a brilliant career and yet she is still so young. she is going to be ha rd to still so young. she is going to be hard to beat and still is another event to go which will come up tomorrow and well done to sophie, a lwa ys tomorrow and well done to sophie, always wa nt tomorrow and well done to sophie, always want to perform at the big event. it was a bronze medal in 1554, he has been, had to wait for his fourth event to actually win his metal here it was a bronze and it

was a really competitive class and he managed to find his form in the final 100 metres to get on the podium here and save the best for last. so relief for richard fred is been a busy week for him and there was also a bronze medal for vanessa wallace this morning in the shop. herfirst ever world wallace this morning in the shop. her first ever world championship metal. always want to enjoy competing these major championships and with the new personal best. a good day for great britain, and that means that they are now currently sitting forth on the medals table. that's all from sportsday. coming up in a moment, the papers.

hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are henry zeffman, political correspondent for the times and kezia dugdale — from glasgow university & former scottish labour leader. many of tomorrow's front pages are already in. the prime minister is to promise a ‘clean energy revolution' if the conservative party were to win the general election — that's according to the telegraph. the labour party head the front of the mirror, with their £26billion pledge to the nhs. the financial times reports that the government have challenged six leading accounting firms on their ability to survive a ‘financial shock‘ in a test of resiliance — ahead of a possible industry break up. the metro leads on a story about an incestual couple

who murdered their children and have now been jailed for at least 35 yea rs. and the daily mail describe ‘the hero who died withoutjustice', after none of the detectives who were involved in the questioning of lord bramall — over false child abuse claims — have been punished. does just a taste of some the front pages. we're going to start off with the independent. so if failure to help the row. the flood victims straight across yorkshire in the north of england. it is put itself front and centre of the general election campaign and it is a politicized issue with them going head to head over whether or not enough is been done to support the businesses affected by the flood and also whether there's going to be more money to come. that the prime minister, on the emergency of the

right minute? it has been hugely politicized. it is not