Chelsea caretaker manager Frank Lampard has backed veteran Raheem Sterling.
The experienced winger has struggled since signing from Manchester City in the summer.
Sterling was meant to take a pivotal role in the team's front line this season, but has looked a shadow of his old self.
There are also comments Sterling made in the past about racism in English football, where he pointed out that white ex-players such as Lampard got more chances in management than black ex-players.
On those comments and Sterling, Lampard told reporters: "No. I don't know Raheem that well. I played with him in England squads. In the period gone I've come across him a few times.
"I think he's a young lad as we want out young men and women in the game to speak openly and honestly, and he's not just spoken that one Newsnight interview you pulled out from two years ago; he's spoken regularly on really good matters in how he sees. If I were to speak to him I would pat him on the back for being that way, whether he said a statement regarding myself or not.
"I understand he would do it from absolutely the right point and the right idea. And, of course from his eyes, my eyes as a 44-year-old coach here are different to Raheem Sterling's eyes and I would be more than interested to hear what he sees about the world.
That's one of the joys working in football, the dressing room, the travel, the talk on the training ground. I've clearly got no problem with that."