Sturridge ruled out of Liverpool's tough week
Daniel Sturridge suggested this week that his muscular problems may be hereditary. Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
The Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted that Daniel Sturridge will miss the toughest week in the club's season, which brings them up against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu and the striker's former club Chelsea in the space of four days.
There was some hope when Sturridge suffered an injury setback, pulling a calf muscle in training 48 hours before his scheduled return at Queens Park Rangers earlier this month, that he would be back to face Chelsea a week tomorrow. But the manager has now given up hope of him playing any part in the week's punishing double-header, which follows tomorrow's visit to a resurgent Newcastle United.
"No, I don't think he will be fit," Rodgers said to the question of whether he would play any part next week.
Sturridge (right) suggested this week that his muscular problems, which have kept him out of the side since 31 August, may be hereditary and related to his body shape - and that "the Caribbean vibes," as he described it, may have left him physically vulnerable to moving at speed, like his footballer uncle Dean Sturridge.
Rodgers said he did not know whether his player - whom he has said will need to get over his injuries to graduate to world-class status - was calling himself injury prone. "I don't know. He is probably speaking how he felt. That is the way of the world," said Rodgers. To the question of whether Sturridge's problem could be psychological he added: "The bottom line is that he is injured. He strained his calf. So he is injured. We will just wait and work with him until he gets back fit."
(© Independent News Service)
