The England international netted both Chelsea goals in our Stamford Bridge victory over the Foxes, with Harvey Barnes replying for the visitors in the second half against the 10-men Blues following an earlier red card for Conor Gallagher.

Sterling was a standout performer for Thomas Tuchel’s side, with his first goals in Chelsea blue ensuring a big three points and a much needed return to winning ways with Raheem expressing his gratitude to the efforts of his team-mates.

‘It was a massive three points and one that we needed, especially off the back of last weekend [defeat to Leeds],’ Sterling said post-match.

‘Even going down to 10 men, the boys showed a lot of passion and commitment to get the job done and it was a good win for us.  It was a big team performance and everyone played their part. 

‘It’s always difficult when you go down to 10 men but it just showed how hard the boys worked for victory.

‘The defenders were excellent in stopping Leicester and that ran right through the team, everybody worked hard for one another and you could see how much it meant to all the boys.

‘It’s teams that win games and everyone pulled their weight today. Edou [Mendy] made some big saves and Kai [Havertz] led from the front, working his socks off to defend high up the pitch.’

Sterling came mightily close to netting a hat-trick for the Blues, with an effort late on coming back off the post following the faintest of touches from Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward.

The forward, however, reiterated that getting the three points in a fine team performance is more important than personal glory, even though he was delighted with his goalscoring efforts!

‘It would have been nice to get a hat-trick but I have to say it was a great save from their goalkeeper,’ added Raheem.

‘I think he just got his studs on the ball to turn it onto the post. It’s something I just have to take, it’s a game of small margins. It wasn’t to be but the most important thing is we got a good win in a what was a tough game against a tough opponent.’