Chelsea boss Graham Potter has admitted Raheem Sterling has struggled to hit top form at Chelsea because the team hasn’t functioned well.

Potter told Chelsea’s official website: “He’s come into a new team that have lost some key players over the summer, brought some new ones in during the transfer window and had a manager change.

“The team hasn’t functioned as well as I believe it can and Raheem, along with all the players, has suffered for that.

“It would be wrong for me to say that Raheem has been at the absolute top of his game but he’s not the only one. It’s my responsibility to help the team function better so that he can play better because he’s got the quality of a top player.”

Potter also believes Sterling had a positive World Cup for England.

“The World Cup experience for him was positive,” Potter added. “Speaking to him, he’s positive about it and he enjoyed it.

“He’s come back like the rest – focused and looking forward to the game, knowing that we can all do a little bit better. We can all perform better so we’re all itching to try to do that.”