Raheem Sterling wants England's young talents like Bukayo Saka to "be left alone" in order for them to reach their potential.

The likes of Saka and Borussia Dortmund's teenage midfielder Jude Bellingham starred in England's opening World Cup win over Iran.

"I think it's brilliant to see players playing well for their clubs bring that to the international stage and biggest stage in football," Sterling told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily.

"I want them to be left alone so they can be focused and not have any added pressure on them.

"It's a different kind of pressure to what I was under. In tournaments like this, no matter how many caps you have got, the less you hear your name the better.

"Every player knows if they are playing well, bad or not to your standards.

"The less we put them under the microscope, the better they'll do. It's virtually impossible not to talk about them given how well they are playing but I think the less we go on about it the better they'll do."

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