Kenny Dalglish has played down the reported rift between Rio Ferdinand and Roy Hodgson.

The England manager left out the Manchester United defender for his squad during Euro 2012 and has omitted him from selection since.

However, Ferdinand has been recalled for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Montenegro, and Dalglish has said that a bust-up between the pair has likely been exaggerated.

"I think it's excessive to talk about there being some kind of feud between the pair of them," Dalglish wrote in his column in The Mirror.

"And even if there are any differences, they're grown men. As a manager, you don't cut your nose off to spite your face. I don't know what the history between Roy and Rio is, but I do know that Roy has barely been in the job a year.

"The last time I looked, international managers were in the habit of picking their best players."

Hodgson had previously claimed that Ferdinand had been left out of squads for "footballing reasons" despite reports of a fall-out between the defender and Chelsea pair John Terry and Ashley Cole.