Roy Hodgson avoided another potential confrontation with Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers when he omitted Daniel Sturridge from the squad for England's next Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Sturridge has been sidelined since injuring his thigh on England duty at the start of September -- leading to public complaints from Rodgers about his care when with the national team - and was left out of the 21-man squad Hodgson named for the games against San Marino and Estonia.
Although he is nearing fitness and could feature for Liverpool in Saturday's Premier League match against West Bromwich Albion, Rodgers did not want Sturridge to play against San Marino at Wembley on Oct. 9 and Estonia in Tallinn three days later.
Hodgson said there was no rift with the Liverpool manager.
"Its just simply a fact, an unfortunate fact, that he's not recovered," Hodgson told reporters.
"It's a great blow to us, Liverpool and the player, because he was anxious to be a part of these two games. There's no problems or conflict there at all.
"He's not played for Liverpool since picking up the injury with us. As I understand it he's still got some work to do before he can be fully fit. There was no question of him being selected."
Hodgson called up 23-year right-back Nathaniel Clyne of Southampton for the first time and there was a recall for midfielder Jonjo Shelvey of Swansea City who won his only cap against San Marino two years ago.
Clyne, who won eight England Under-21 caps, has been in excellent form in Southampton's climb to second place in the table and scored with a stunning 30-metre shot against Arsenal in the Capital One (League) Cup last week.
"He has impressed us for quite a while, even before the World Cup he was a name we were constantly considering," Hodgson said.
"Now of course we have lost Glen Johnson and Kyle Walker and we were looking for another candidate for the right back post and Nathaniel has been asked to come."
England began their qualifying campaign for the finals in France with a 2-0 win in Switzerland when Danny Welbeck scored both goals and the 23-year-old is again expected to lead the line after scoring his first professional hat-trick in Arsenal's 4-1 Champions League victory over Galatasaray.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser Forster (Southampton), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion)
Defenders: Gary Cahill (Chelsea), John Stones (Everton), Leighton Baines (Everton), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea City), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)
Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal), Rickie Lambert (Liverpool)