Essien supports friend Daniel Pappoe in Crawley Town

Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien was at the Checkatrade Stadium to support compatriot Daniel Pappoe during Crawley Town's 1-0 win in the Checkatrade Trophy Group E game on Tuesday night.

The former Real Madrid midfielder is a friend to the Reds defender who failed to get off the bench.

The two have been friends from the time together at Chelsea, where Pappoe was a youth player between 2006 and 2013.

Essien, 33, won the Premier League twice with Blues.

Essien has also played for AC Milan and most recently Panathinaikos in Greece, who released him at the end of last season.

He has been training back at Cobham with Chelsea this summer, and even played in a friendly against Brentford, until he finds a new club.