Former Liverpool youngster Ryan McLaughlin says that Raheem Sterling was thrown under a bus by the club.

Sterling was a teenager when he was with the Reds, and he emerged under then manager Brendan Rodgers.

Despite an excellent start to his Anfield career, he eventually transferred to Manchester City as he did not feel he could win trophies at Liverpool.

And the club had famously aired an argument between Rodgers and Sterling in a documentary in 2012, which McLaughlin found disappointing.

"I just don't understand why the club threw him under the bus with that," he told Goal.com.

"For a young kid, that could knock you completely. He was 17, and it made him out to be something he wasn't. I look back and think 'imagine that had been me'.

"Your family is watching it, you'd be devastated. Those things should have been kept behind-closed-doors.

"Rodgers calling him out, I've no problem with that. He's the manager. But to air it? I felt that was wrong. It was poorly managed.

"It's probably something that stuck with Raheem for a long time afterwards, which was unfair. He's had that tag, when in reality anyone who spent time around him would tell you what a nice lad he is."