It has been a dramatic few weeks for Sterling, his stay in Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup interrupted by an unscheduled return to England following a burglary at his Surrey home.

That saw him miss the last-16 victory over Senegal, though he rejoined the camp in time for the quarter-final against France, during which he came off the bench for the final 11 minutes in the aftermath of what proved to be Olivier Giroud’s winning goal.

‘He’s good, as good as you can be,’ Potter reported on the 28-year-old. ‘Sadly it’s not the first time that it’s happened to him.

‘There’s nothing we can do now other than make sure he’s as secure as possible with his family. That’s the most important thing.’

Despite that difficult and disturbing development, Potter believes the forward enjoyed his time with Gareth Southgate’s group in the Middle East.

He started and scored in the group opener against Iran, taking him to 20 career goals for the Three Lions, and it is that form in the final third that his club manager hopes he can replicate upon the resumption of Chelsea’s Premier League campaign today.

‘The World Cup experience for him was positive,’ continued Potter. ‘Speaking to him, he’s positive about it and he enjoyed it.

‘He’s come back like the rest - focused and looking forward to the game, knowing that we can all do a little bit better. We can all perform better so we’re all itching to try to do that.’

Assessing Sterling’s overall club form since his summer switch from Manchester City, Potter reiterates a point he has made before; that it is unfair to judge individuals in a system that is not yet functioning as efficiently as the head coach wants it to.

Instead, the focus should be on improving the collective in order to bring out the best from the likes of Sterling and his attacking team-mates.

‘He's come into a new team that have lost some key players over the summer, brought some new ones in during the transfer window and had a manager change,’ added Potter. ‘The team hasn’t functioned as well as I believe it can and Raheem, along with all the players, has suffered for that.

‘It would be wrong for me to say that Raheem has been at the absolute top of his game but he’s not the only one. It’s my responsibility to help the team function better so that he can play better because he’s got the quality of a top player.’