BR revels in timely Sturridge comeback

Despite missing the majority of pre-season, the 24-year-old striker kicked off 2013-14 with 11 goals in 14 appearances before succumbing to an unfortunate ankle injury back in November.

The boss revealed at his pre-match press conference yesterday that the No.15 has been 'looking very well' in training at Melwood ahead of Sunday's trip to Stoke City in the Barclays Premier League.

Although it has yet to be decided whether Sturridge can feature against the Potters this weekend, Rodgers revealed his delight at having the prolific forward back for the remainder of the campaign.

"This week has been about looking to improve his football fitness," the Northern Irishman told the Liverpool Echo.

"He has been working outside for a couple of weeks so his physical fitness is at a good level. Having someone of that quality and stature back on the training field has given everyone a lift.

"We want to continue our improvement as a team in the second half of the season and that comes down to the availability of the players.

"We recently got Steven Gerrard back and now Daniel is back too. They are very important to us and it means hopefully for the run-in we will have a really strong squad.

"Credit to Daniel because he has worked very hard in his recovery phase. He's also fortunate in that the body type he is allows him to recover very quickly.

"If you think back to the lack of pre-season he had, he missed nearly all of it but he came in and carried the can for us in that early part of the season.

"When we started playing games he was outstanding. He looks after his body well. All the statistics in terms of his body weight are exceptional.

"He has looked good over the past few days. He's obviously not 100 per cent yet but to have that quality back out on the field certainly makes us better."

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In Sturridge's absence since heading home a dramatic equaliser in the Merseyside derby draw on November 23, Luis Suarez has taken up the goalscoring mantle in truly incredible fashion.

Reintegrating the England international alongside the Premier League's top scorer, though, is simply a 'nice' problem for the manager to process when the former is fully fit once more.

Rodgers added: "It's just nice to have the problem. What we've shown is that the control of having three midfield players has really helped us. That's what I've been aiming towards.

"It's all about getting the right balance in the team. Certainly having Sturridge and Suarez both fit gives us great firepower.

"You have two top talents. Suarez is world-class and Sturridge is a young player looking to get that consistency who has shown what huge potential he has in his game."