Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has called on the fans to support Raheem Sterling, who came under intense scrutiny following his performance in the FA Cup semi-final victory over Leicester City.
Sterling delivered an assist for Cole Palmer before being replaced by Noni Madueke, who marked his cameo with a sensational effort that sealed a 4-2 win for the Blues.
However, the overall performance from the England international didn’t sit well with the Chelsea faithful, who jeered the winger as he exited the pitch in the 86th minute.
Sterling, who has been linked with a summer exit to Saudi Arabia, took to social media to apologise for his performance, and Pochettino has offered his support to the 28-year-old.
Speaking in a pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea’s home clash against Burnley, Pochettino backed Sterling to bounce back from the setback and prove his worth to the supporters.
“It’s about to be calm now and accept the situation,” Pochettino told reporters. “The most important [thing] is to deal with this situation with our experience.
“We cannot create bigger things that were emotional at some point. The whole team were suffering, but the most important thing is Raheem is an experienced player. Of course he understands.
“Look, we need to move on, to try, for us to help to protect the player, that is our responsibility and the player to understand they need to make the effort to try and convince the fans we are in a very good way.”
Chelsea host Championship-bound Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Saturday hoping to further their bid to land a European slot next season.
The Blues head into the clash on the back of a four-match unbeaten run across all competitions and are looking to do the double over Burnley after thrashing Vincent Kompany’s side 4-1 in the reverse fixture.
Pochettino has a couple of injuries to be worried about but Chelsea should have enough in the chamber to fire past an unconvincing Burnley side.
