Football: Stars' fury at Sven

SVEN Goran Eriksson is facing growing unrest from key players in his England squad.

Three leading stars - Gareth Southgate, Nicky Butt and Danny Mills - have questioned his man-management skills after they were dumped without prior notice from key England fixtures.

Leeds defender Mills was cast aside in favour of Gary Neville for the match against Slovakia last weekend and Eriksson refused to give him any explanation before announcing his side.

But the discontent grewwhen he dished out similar treatment to Southgate and Butt, who played in the victory in Bratislava but were dropped from Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Macedonia.

It is alleged that Southgate was fuming to the extent that he considered walking out and only the intervention of his Middlesbrough boss and England coach Steve McClaren talked him out of taking such drastic action.

The three players were inconsolable yet Eriksson evaded addressing the problem despite being made aware of the stars' feelings by senior England coaches.

Southgate admitted: "I was bitterly disappointed not to play against Macedonia especially after Saturday's result in Bratislava - but it's Mr Eriksson's decision. I'm not too certain about the reasons for the decision."

Eriksson has since fled the country on a 10-day vacation to see off criticism following unprecedented flak from the nation following England's humiliating draw against a Macedonia side ranked90th in the world.

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