Rio Ferdinand criticises Gareth Southgate's treatment of Raheem Sterling after Joe Gomez incident

Former England defender Rio Ferdinand has criticised Gareth Southgate's handling of the altercation between Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez.

Sterling's involvement in the altercation has cost him his place in the England team for their upcoming match against Montenegro.

Gareth Southgate dropped the Manchester City striker from the squad for England’s next Euro 2020 qualifier as punishment for trying to reopen his Anfield row with Gomez on international duty.

Ex-Manchester United centre-back Ferdinand posted on Facebook: "GARETH has handled being England manager brilliantly - up to this point...However, I feel this incident could have been handled better. Keep it behind closed doors & deal with it internally surely?!

"Now Raheem is left to defend himself from all of the haters that had had their keyboards turned off due to him becoming a very worthy ambassador for the English game, and rightly so.

"If this was a terrible incident then I would be all for public shaming & discipline. But for this 'throat grab' that we are TOLD it's for I can't understand it."

Ferdinand added: "One of our World Class players who has conducted himself wonderfully through Racism and unwarranted criticism in an England shirt will now come under more scrutiny...when this could have been dealt with internally. Hindsight is a great thing though.

"It seems to me, Raheem felt embarrassed by all that went on at the weekend... a sign of winning mentality...however channeled wrongly. Help educate him!"

Meanwhile, Sky Sports pundit and former teammate of Ferdinand, Gary Neville, defended the way in which Southgate has handled the situation.

"I've been involved in quite a few of these things over the years with England and there is no right or wrong in a way, in the sense that I've seen managers sweep it under the carpet, and try to keep a low profile on these sorts of things," Neville told Sky Sports.

"I've also seen managers go public, as Gareth has. What I would say is that the decision that Gareth has made... I feel like it's the right one without knowing the detail of what's gone on.

"There's nothing worse than sweeping it under the carpet, and then all the players going back to their own rooms they all share together, and having that feeling that they're all talking about you being weak, and that you've not dealt with it because he's a big player and that he's shied away from a big decision.

"I've seen incidents like this dealt with in both ways with England and there is no ideal because it's so public and the media want their pound of flesh, including ourselves. But the reality is that these things happen in football, and it will blow over."

Only last year, Ferdinand said club rivalries "killed" the chances of the national team winning anything during its so-called "golden generation" at the start of this century, when high-profile players from Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea were in the team.

"One year we would have been fighting Liverpool to win the league, another year it would be Chelsea," said Ferdinand, who was a Premier League and Champions League winner with United. "So I was never going to walk into the England dressing room and open up to Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, John Terry or Joe Cole at Chelsea, or Steven Gerrard or Jamie Carragher at Liverpool.

"I wouldn't open up because of the fear they would take something back to their club and use it against us, to make them better than us. I didn't really want to engage with them."

Ferdinand said "it overshadowed things. It killed that England team, that generation."