Brendan Rodgers Says Daniel Sturridge Finally Close To Return

It's been a rough ride for Liverpool this season, trying to make do at striker after losing Luis Suarez to Barcelona amd with Daniel Sturridge getting repeatedly felled by injury. Barring yet another training injury, however, Liverpool are finally about to get Sturridge back on the pitch.

"Daniel starts training tomorrow with the team," Brendan Rodgers told the press after their 0-0 FA Cup draw with Bolton. "He's in his final rehabilitation with the medical and sports science guys today and joins in with the group from now. It's just about getting football and game fitness.

"We'll see how he is for Tuesday [against Chelsea in the League Cup]. If he's not ready for Tuesday then he'll be back, for sure, against West Ham next weekend."

Getting Sturridge back in any effective capacity against Chelsea would be a big boost to their chances of winning that League Cup tie, with Liverpool in desperate need for at least one away goal in the tie. Considering everything that's gone wrong for Sturridge health-wise, though, it would be understandable for Rodgers and company to not want to rush him back quite so quickly.

Hopefully Sturridge comes back strongly and salvages some kind of decency out of what's been an utterly lost season for him so far. If he can help Liverpool lift a trophy or two by campaign's end, that would make up for an awful lot of the pain that he and fans of gone through this season.