Sturridge: Season start will be the key

The striker was a member of the 2009-10 Chelsea team that secured the double under the stewardship of Carlo Ancelotti.

In the league, the Blues' opening to the campaign - during which they won their first six matches - ultimately proved decisive as they clinched the crown by one point ahead of Manchester United.

Sturridge, therefore, is familiar with the impact a strong start can have on determining the outcome of a season - and he's hoping Liverpool can pick up where they left off when they travel to Villa Park on Saturday.

"I think that season I played at Chelsea, we won the first five or six, or something like that - we didn't lose many games throughout the season," he told Liverpoolfc.com during a chat at Melwood.

"It's important to try not to lose games - if we can try to get a draw here and there and then in the games we're drawing, we get a win here and there.

"The games where your backs are against the wall, but you stand up in and fight and get a win or a point, they're the ones that count towards the end of the season.

"It's always good to get off to a good start if you can and then going past Christmas, that's when you enter the business end of the season, so it's good to lay the foundations down at the beginning."

Sturridge fired the only goal of the game as Liverpool began 2013-14 with a well-deserved triumph over Stoke last Saturday.

"The first game was very important for us," added the 23-year-old. "To get off to a good start after the work you put in during pre-season and going into the game with the right mentality, it's a special feeling.

"After all the hard work you do, if you go into the first game and lose, it's deflating - everybody's gutted, leaving the stadium the fans and the players are unhappy.

"To get off to a good start and for everyone to be on a high going into the next game with confidence is always good."

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Victory at Villa Park on Saturday evening would ensure Liverpool record wins both home and away at the first time of asking, ending the possibility of the kind of run that saw them forced to wait until late September last season for the first three points of Brendan Rodgers' reign.

Nonetheless, Sturridge insists nipping such unwanted records in the bud won't signal a reduction in the pressure to win matches for Liverpool's players.

"You have to rise to the pressure regardless of the situation you're in - whether we play against a top club or a club at the bottom of the league, you have to embrace the pressure," he explained.

"Every game we play in there is pressure, regardless of the opposition we're playing against. There is always going to be a pressure environment because no game is easy. You have to go into games with the right mentality.

"I don't think the pressure of winning a game is a weight on our shoulders because we're trying to win every game - it doesn't matter who we're playing against, we want to win."

On a personal level, Sturridge was delighted to get off the mark at the first time of asking as his 20-yard drive opened his account for the campaign against Stoke.

It meant the No.15 picked up where he left off last term when, after signing from Chelsea in January, he bagged 11 goals in 16 appearances.

"It's great to get off the mark," he reflected. "It's always good because the first game is always tense and it's cagey, but when you get off to a good start it's good for your confidence. I'm looking forward to the next game now and pressing on from here."

It's been mooted that given his outstanding goals-to-games ratio for Liverpool, Sturridge may feel a little bit of added pressure to continue that kind of form throughout 2013-14.

Does the man himself agree?

"No, not at all to be honest because I don't have any expectations of myself," he said. "I just try to do my best for the team every time and if I can score great, if I get an assist great, but if we win the game it's good to be a part of it.

"It's not about me scoring goals and being the 'star' of the team, it's just about winning games and trying to get as high up the table as we can."

Sturridge had, at one point, looked doubtful to face Stoke having sustained an ankle injury while on international duty with England in May.

However, the forward worked tirelessly at Melwood over the course of the summer to put himself back in contention ahead of schedule.

Now he's hoping to continue to go from strength to strength as he bids to return to peak condition.

"I'm not at 100 per cent, to be honest," said Sturridge." I don't really know where I'm at percentage wise, but I wouldn't say I'm as sharp as I will be, but it's good to be out there and it's important that I play games and work hard to get fit and make sure I'm doing as much as I can in order to get into tip-top condition.

"The injury was difficult because after I did it, I was on holiday on crutches and in a boot. That's the time when you want to enjoy yourself.

"It was a difficult period for myself, but I thank God for helping me get through that. To be fit for the start of the season was a blessing."

Sturridge will be hoping to lead Liverpool's line once again in the Midlands this weekend and he's well aware, given their impressive start to the season, that Villa will provide a stern test.

"They're a good team, they've got good individuals and it's not going to be an easy game for us," he concluded.

"We won there last season, but it's a new season now - they've got a point to prove, we've got a point to prove. It's going to be a very good game for everyone to watch.

"But I'm going into the game with a positive attitude, just like all the boys are, and we'll go out there and do our best."