Daniel Sturridge comes to Raheem Sterling’s defence after being left out of Chelsea’s matchday squad – but Micah Richards questions decision to make statement before kick-off

Daniel Sturridge has come to Raheem Stering’s defence after a statement emerged claiming the striker would not be in Chelsea’s squad for the match against Manchester City.

Sterling was surprisingly absent from the 18-man squad that new Blues manager Enzo Maresca selected to face the champions on the opening weekend, with the game ending in a 2-0 victory for City.

Maresca defended his decision to leave the former England player out of the squad for tactical reasons both before and after the match, stressing that he had to make the difficult decision on which players to leave out.

In a statement published exclusively by Mail Sport, the forward’s representatives – when asked for comment – said his absence from Sunday’s match against Manchester City was unexpected. The statement was released just minutes before kick-off.

Sky Sports analyst Sturridge, meanwhile, defended his former teammate’s ability and motivation to join the Blues, but took issue with the timing of the statement.

Daniel Sturridge has jumped to Raheem Sterling’s (pictured) defence after a statement about his Chelsea drop

Blues manager Enzo Maresca defended his decision not to include the striker in his 18-man squad

Although he questioned the ruling, Sturridge (pictured) defended the suitability of his former teammates

“I want to say I have a lot of love and respect for Raheem Sterling as a footballer,” Sturridge began. “As a man, he’s like a young brother to me.

‘The timing is not great, especially on the day of the match, but he will feel he is good enough to help Chelsea Football Club.

‘In his head he’s probably thinking, “Playing City today, my old club, go out there”. I think he’s probably surprised he’s not involved.

‘I don’t agree with it, with the message that is being given during the daily game. It’s obviously not good timing, but Raheem Sterling is a good enough player to be in the Chelsea squad for me.’

Fellow analyst Micah Richards was somewhat harsher in his assessment of the actions and launched a fierce attack on the former City player.

A statement from Sterling’s camp said: ‘Raheem Sterling has signed a three-year contract with Chelsea Football Club.

‘He returned to England two weeks earlier to undertake individual training and has had a positive pre-season under the new coach, with whom he has built up a good working relationship.

‘He is, as always, committed to performing at the highest level for Chelsea FC and the fans, who he holds in high regard. Given his mention in official club material ahead of this week’s match, we expected Raheem to be involved in some way in this weekend’s match.

“As a training camp, we have always had a positive conversation with Chelsea FC and received assurances from them regarding Raheem’s future at the club. We are therefore looking forward to getting clarity on the situation.

‘Until then, we will continue to support Raheem in his desire to start the new season positively.’

Sturridge and Sterling played together for England for a number of years, and both also played for Liverpool

Micah Richards, meanwhile, criticised the timing of the statement, which was released just before Chelsea’s first game of the season

Richards responded to Sturridge, who appeared irritated by Richards’ defence and questioned whether he thought his assessment was fair: “We’ve all been left out, haven’t we? We’ve all been left out and we’d all like to make statements, but Raheem and his team know exactly what they’re doing.

“They’re trying to make noise. There was a lot of noise around the club anyway. Everyone’s talking about the players, everyone’s talking about the ownership, everyone’s talking about, can we even guess who Chelsea’s starting XI is? Making that statement before the game is not good enough.

“I like Raheem as a player. I’ve interviewed him, he’s a really nice guy, but that doesn’t matter. We’re talking about the facts of today. That’s not going to help your teammates, and it’s probably not going to help him come back into the team.”