Sturridge generously praises Divock Origi’s “exceptional” season

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Poor old Daniel Sturridge. He is one of the best forwards in the Premier League – if not all of Europe – but after an injury-hit 18 months he’s (rightly) had to settle for a stop/start 2016 as Klopp nurses him back to full fitness.

All the while, he’s had to watch Belgian youngster Divock Origi go from strength-to-strength, increasingly putting pressure on his own unchallenged right to be the number one striker at the club.

None of that matters to the gracious 26-year-old, however. In fact, he’s just spoken in glowing terms about Origi, saying that all this season’s progress is down to his own hard work.

“He has put the work in himself. You have to take things from everyone’s game and if he’s taken things from my game I am grateful I could help him,” he said (via Echo).

“I go about my business a certain way and I’m not too old to learn from any players. I still watch clips of older generations – Thierry Henry, Ronaldo – as well as players who aren’t playing for top clubs. I am a student of the game, I like to watch and it is important to keep adding facets to your game so you can improve.”

He then spoke about Origi’s recent injury:

“I always speak to the players who have had injuries. I’ve had to deal with them and it is a mental rollercoaster having to deal with them so I always try to give them a boost because there can be low points when you are injured and you feel alone and not part of things.

“Hopefully they all recover fast. Hendo, Emre, Divock have all done exceptional this season so hopefully they will all be back before the end of the season.

“It is going to be difficult but hopefully Divock doesn’t look as bad so hopefully he will be back soon. It is not a great challenge (by Funes Mori) is it?”

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He concluded with a word-of-warning about the upcoming fixture list:

“There are some huge games up and everyone is looking forward to those, everyone is hyped up for them. But we’ve still got the Premier League games as well and Newcastle is a big game this weekend,” he said.

“We can’t overlook those and think we will focus on the Europa League.”

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