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England coach Southgate defends Chelsea attacker Sterling; plans form talks

England coach Gareth Southgate plans talks with Chelsea attacker Raheem Sterling over form slump.

Sterling has scored just once since Graham Potter took charge at Chelsea and has been switching between a wing-back role and the front three.

Asked about the 27-year-old's stuttering form, Southgate said: “The first thing is always to sit and talk to players and look them in the eye and find out what is going on. Raheem has had a change of club and his scoring at the start was very good.

“He has had three managers in a short space of time if you go back to [Manchester] City. There is a lot to take on for a player when they move club.

“Of course, we expect instant transfer of performance on the pitch, but there can be many reasons [why that is not the case]. We have a few players in that sort of situation and I have to work out how they look on the training pitch and how they are within themselves."

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