Graham Potter says Raheem Sterling's "challenging" start at Chelsea is understandable but he expects the forward to improve as he prepares to face former side Manchester City.
Sterling has come in for criticism since ending a successful and trophy-laden seven-season spell at Man City to join Chelsea in a reported £50million deal ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
That is despite the England international having scored and assisted more goals (nine) than any team-mate this season in his 21 appearances, while only Mason Mount has created more chances (32 to 28).
He was on the scoresheet in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, which extended Chelsea's disappointing run of form to just one win in five either side of the 2022 World Cup.
With plenty of focus on Sterling ahead of Chelsea's double-header with City in the Premier League and FA Cup third round this week, Potter has called for more from the 28-year-old.
"It's been a challenge for him, I think. But it's been a challenging period for everybody," Potter told reporters. "There has been a lot of change here and a lot of things have happened.
"In that regard, it's never easy to completely settle and completely hit the ground running. There's more to come from Raheem, I'm sure, but he gives his best every day. We need to help him get to the level that we know we can get to."
Sterling scored 91 goals in 225 Premier League appearances for City, who trail leaders Arsenal by eight points with a game in hand, despite the incredible form of striker Erling Haaland.
The Norway international has found the net 27 times in 21 games this season – seven goals more than any other player across Europe's top five leagues – including seven strikes in his six away league matches.
Rather than focus on Haaland's obvious strengths, however, Potter is focusing on the damage his Chelsea players can do to City's defence in Thursday's match at Stamford Bridge.
"Haaland's obviously had a fantastic season; the goals there are amazing," Potter said. "It's a top team, but we have to think about ourselves, and think about how we can do better.
"We need to think about how we can take steps forward in terms of our game. That's the approach we'll have. Playing well ourselves is the key.
"Then you have to understand the quality they have and try to stop it. It does sound simple when I articulate it now but obviously in reality it's not so straightforward.
"They're a top team, but we can cause them a problem. We can be ourselves and try to play well and try to put them under pressure. We need to use Stamford Bridge to our advantage and then see what happens."
City boss Guardiola has lost eight times against Chelsea in all competitions, with that the joint-most defeats suffered against a single opponent in his coaching career alongside Liverpool.
However, Guardiola's City have won their past three matches against Chelsea without conceding a goal, most recently prevailing 2-0 in November's EFL Cup third-round tie when the Catalan exchanged words with Potter at full-time.
Asked about that conversation ahead of their latest encounter, Potter said: "It was a general football conversation. He understands the challenges that we have here and he's faced some similar ones himself.
"It was just a conversation after a game you have with football coaches. It's nice, I think it's good. It's good that managers can speak because it's complicated when you're out there.
"There are always emotions, and we're all fighting for the points, but afterwards it's nice to be able to speak as human beings and talk about the game.
"I think if you did the research on football, and not just Pep but the people within the game that played against my teams and have watched the work that I've done, I think there's a general level of respect.
"There certainly is from my perspective to him, because he's fantastic. He's a fantastic person. But also, what he's achieved as a footballer and was achieved as a coach is amazing."
Sessegnon rejoins boyhood club Fulham after Tottenham departure
Ryan Sessegnon has resigned for Fulham on a free transfer, five years after leaving the club.
The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Cottagers with the option to extend for a further year following his departure from Tottenham last month.
In his first spell at the club, Sessegnon worked his way through the academy over 11 years, scoring 25 goals in 120 first-team appearances.
He then moved to Spurs in a £25million deal in 2019, though struggled to nail down a place in North London, making just 57 appearances in all competitions, and scoring three goals.
"It's amazing to be back. Emotional, as well," he told FFCtv. "It's where it started for me, where everything began, and it's amazing to be back.
"It will always be home for me. I think it had the feeling that it was meant to be, coming back here, so I'm delighted to get it done."
Sessegnon is Fulham's first signing of the transfer window, though they have seen plenty of first-team departures already, with Joao Palhinha, Tosin Adarabioyo and Bobby De Cordova-Reid all leaving the club.
Ederson slams reports of rift with Man City backup Ortega
Ederson has hit out at reports of a rift between himself and fellow Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
The Brazilian was substituted after suffering a fractured eye socket in City's penultimate game of the Premier League season, a vital 1-0 win over Tottenham.
Ortega replaced him and made a brilliant save to deny Son Heung-min as City maintained their slender lead over Arsenal at the top of the table, sealing an unprecedented fourth straight title by beating West Ham five days later.
Ortega was widely lauded for his role in that triumph, and an article published by The Athletic this week suggested Ederson took issue with that praise.
However, the goalkeeper – who missed the Copa America as a result of his injury – has now moved to shut down those suggestions with a post to his Instagram story.
"I would like to clarify that the note published by The Athletic yesterday, referring to my alleged dissatisfaction with a co-worker, is completely false," he wrote.
"The alleged day reported was, without a doubt, one of the most difficult days of my career, when I suffered a fracture that prevented me from playing in the final stretch of the season and, consequently, from representing my country in the Copa America.
"At the time of the injury, my only thought was to continue in the match, defending City in the fight for the title.
"But the emotion of the match would be greater than the reality and, inevitably, I would not be able to continue as I would have liked due to the damage it caused, completely blocking my field of vision. I remain focused on preparing for the season."
Ederson has been linked with a transfer in recent days, reportedly attracting interest from Saudi Pro League clubs.
McAllister cannot see Klopp or Guardiola succeeding Southgate
Gary McAllister finds it hard to believe that either Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola will succeed Gareth Southgate as England manager.
Southgate, who led England to back-to-back European Championship finals, ended his eight-year tenure following their defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 showpiece.
The 53-year-old was often accused of a cautious approach despite only Walter Winterbottom (383) and Alf Ramsey (224) overseeing more England goals than his 213, with supporters wanting to see a more attack-minded manager take over.
And two of the names linked with the vacant position have been pioneers of Premier League football in recent years.
Klopp ended his nine-year stay at Liverpool in May to take a break from management, while some expect Guardiola to leave Manchester City at the end of his current deal, which expires next year.
The pair have won 653 games between them and shared 25 major honours during their time in England and could be seen as the ideal candidates to end the Three Lions' 58-year wait for silverware.
However, former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder McAllister believes Klopp and Guardiola are unlikely to become England's next manager.
McAllister, who played 57 times for his nation, believes supporters would prefer an English manager at the helm.
"I think people are linking Jurgen with the England job purely because he has experience working in the English Premier League," McAllister told Stats Perform.
"He's worked with elite players for many years now at Dortmund and at Liverpool. So people are putting two and two together.
"Personally, I don't see it happening and I think I also see that there were links to Pep Guardiola and I don't see Pep managing England either.
"It's hard for me to comment on this because I'm obviously not English, I'm Scottish.
"The people I speak to within the game, there is a feeling that the manager of England should come from St George's Park, which is the headquarters of English football, the FA and all the coaching programmes that they have there.
"Why would you have all this and then put a manager not from England in? I think most of the people in England are looking for an English manager."
The Three Lions' next game is a Nations League clash with the Republic of Ireland in September, with Finland their next opponents three days later.
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