Steven Gerrard questions Jose Mourinho's decision to omit John Terry

Former England captain Steven Gerrard has questioned Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho's decision to leave out John Terry for the Champions League game against Maccabi Tel Aviv, hinting at friction behind the scenes at the club.

Terry was one of several first-team players left out of the Blues side for the 4-0 victory on Wednesday evening, with Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma instead starting in defence.

However, Gerrard says that Terry must be allowed to continue in the centre of defence if Mourinho's side are to be successful this season, and has suggested that there may be problems behind the scene at the Premier League champions.

"There is certainly a bit of friction behind the scenes because for me, you play John Terry week in, week out, he is your captain," Gerrard told BT Sport.

"He is such an important figure in the dressing room and if Chelsea want to be successful this season, they need him in there. Chelsea were champions three months ago, they were the best team in the league, with the PFA player of the year in Eden Hazard and was Cesc Fabregas on fire.

"Something has clearly happening behind the scene that we are not clued up on. You can't have that many problems in a starting XI so quickly."

Although their European campaign got off to the perfect start, Chelsea have endured their worst beginning to a domestic season in 29 years after winning just one of their first five league matches.