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With the World Cup a mere four months away, there is not much time left for national team hopefuls to make an impression on the managers who have the power to put them on a plane to Brazil or let them spend a summer idling on a beach somewhere in the Mediterranean.
While most teams will have had a core group of players in place for some time now, those sniffing around the fringes of the national team still have a shot to help make up that final squad list, and England captain Steven Gerrard thinks Raheem Sterling could be one of those players.
"Raheem has been in great form over the last couple of months and I’m sure Roy Hodgson is watching him very closely,” Gerrard said. "The Arsenal game was an unbelievable performance from a guy of that age. I was just disappointed that he didn’t go on and get his hat-trick.
"His form of late has been sensational and if he continues that until the end of the season, we will see him at the World Cup."
Sterling still has just a single senior appearance for the English national team, coming all the way back in 2012, but with a major injury keeping Theo Walcott out of contention, Sterling is certainly giving Hodgson something to think about. Still, even if he isn't selected, the player has youth on his side and lots of learning opportunities ahead of him back home in Liverpool.
"If he gets that consistency, he is going to be a frightening talent," Gerrard said of Sterling's performances against Everton and Arsenal. "He is the toughest in our squad. I don’t go near him in training because if I do, there is only one winner.
"He just needs to keep learning and listening to Brendan and the experienced players in the dressing room and believing in himself. If he does that, he’ll be all right."
Sterling has come a long way since his infamous "steady" moment forever captured in Being: Liverpool, and while that's no guarantee of a spot on the bench in Brazil, it's certainly put him much closer than he was even a year ago.
