Liverpool: Brendan Rodgers will speak to Raheem Sterling post laughing gas incident

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has condemned Raheem Sterling's actions after the forward was pictured by the Sun newspaper allegedly inhaling laughing gas.

The Reds boss has admitted that he will talk to the England winger after the Merseyside club's win over Newcastle on Monday, 13 April, which saw Sterling score the Reds' opening goal.

This latest controversy comes just a week after Sterling revealed that he had rejected a £100,000-a-week ($147,000) contract offer from Liverpool.

"For me it is not something, when you're a professional sportsperson at the top of your game, you should be doing. It's as simple as that," Rodgers said, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo.

"I'll speak to him on it. We want players who are super professional, who are focused on their football – and I know he is, and I know he's focused on his football and improving as a player."

"Like I said before, young players will make mistakes, and learn from them – that's what's important. He's a young kid who has been in the spotlight now so he knows the demands of being a top-class player and a top-class professional. It's not just on the field, it's off the field. So I'll speak with him on it and we'll move on," the 41-year-old manager explained, as quoted by Goal.

The former Swansea City manager is confident that the off-field distractions will not hamper Sterling's performances on the pitch and reserved some high praise for the former Queens Park Rangers youth team player following his impressive showing at Anfield against the Magpies.

"No [it won't]. You can see how he plays. He's a kid that's very strong-willed and strong-minded, his performance was outstanding and he could have had a hat trick tonight."

"I'll speak to Raheem and until I do that it's something we'll deal with internally," Rodgers concluded.