Thursday 13 December 2018 16:08, UK
Raheem Sterling has shown his maturity following the alleged racist abuse of the Manchester City winger, according to the player's former manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Pellegrini was in charge of City when Sterling joined from Liverpool for £49m back in July 2015, and the pair had one campaign together before the Chilean left the club and Pep Guardiola took over.
The West Ham boss said he hopes Sterling will put Saturday's incident at Stamford Bridge behind him and continue his impressive form, which saw the 24-year-old pick up November's Premier League player of the month award.
Pellegrini said: "I read some things about that. Raheem has spoken about it and now I think it is better for him to continue playing because he's doing very well, and not have distractions about stupid things.
"All things will affect a little bit but I think now Raheem is a more mature player
"It has been two or three years since he arrived at Manchester City so I hope that he will manage the situation in the best way."
Pellegrini has managed in six countries - including China, Spain and his native Chile - and when asked if he thinks racism is still a problem in football, he replied: "I don't think we should continue talking about that.
"[It would mean] you give too much importance to some small people that have stupid minds, so I think everyone knows that is not the way most people think."
Earlier this week, Chelsea suspended four supporters from attending matches pending investigations into alleged racist abuse of Sterling.
Cameras captured a group of Chelsea supporters shouting at Sterling while he attempted to retrieve the ball during Manchester City's 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
A number of individuals were spoken to by Chelsea officials and Metropolitan Police officers at the end of the match. However, no arrests were made at the time.
