Steve Sidwell said the bust-up between Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez is 'the kind of thing that happens once a week' - as he recalled the time he headbutted team-mate Nicky Shorey.
Sterling has been axed by England boss Gareth Southgate for Thursday's Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro over his part in a spat with Gomez which spilled over from Sunday's game between Liverpool and Manchester City .
The controversy has marred a magnificent few months for Sterling , who has been lauded over his excellent form for club and country and his role in campaigning against racism in football.
But former Chelsea and Reading midfielder Sidwell said such rows are a regular occurrence in football squads, saying: "It's the things that happen probably once a week, once a month."
And he recalled the time he was hauled into the manager's office after headbutting Nicky Shorey after feeling he had been on the end of a bad tackle from his Reading team-mate.
"I've got up and pushed him, he's pushed me back and I've just thrown a head on his nose," said Sidwell on The Debate on Sky Sports.
"His nose is splattered, he's swung for me, he's caught me, and Steve Coppell's come over.
"Before you know it training's stopped, we're in the manager's office, and he was like 'What's going on?'.
"We said 'I don't know', we shook hands - but the mad thing about it was we were car-sharing at the time. We were neighbours.
"We drove home, went for a pint, and nothing ever happened.
"Football's a unique environment, and this happens from youth teams upwards."
Sterling apologised to Gomez and the rest of the England players following their bust-up on Monday, then released a statement via Instagram in which he said the two had "moved on" from the incident.
He and Gomez were then pictured joking together in training on Tuesday.
