Sturridge edging closer to his best – Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers said star Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is almost back to full fitness.

Daniel Sturridge will “light up” Liverpool’s top-four bid once he regains his full fitness, according to manager Brendan Rodgers.

Liverpool have monitored Sturridge’s minutes since the England international made a goalscoring return from calf and ankle injuries at the end of January.

Sturridge played 105 minutes in Liverpool’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Besiktas in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, while the 25-year-old was a 75th-minute substitute as the Merseyside club beat Manchester City 2-1 three days later.

While Sturridge has come in and out of the starting line-up, Rodgers has issued a warning to Liverpool’s Premier League rivals as his team looks to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League.

“Daniel is not fully fit yet and it is difficult for him because these are not training games for him to get fit,” Rodgers said.

“He’s excited by the new system. Put a fully fit Daniel Sturridge into that system and it lights it up again.

“Come the end of this week Daniel [will] be on a great run and able to play every game and be able to train.

“He wasn’t quite ready for the Premier League so then we were trying to fit him in games.

“The Europa League was a great chance to get some game time into him, but after five months out and with his history here that was something we had to think of.

“The last thing we wanted to do was break him. He felt good on Sunday on the back of playing Thursday. He’s very determined to play and when you see a fully fit Daniel, he will be brilliant.”