The Daily Mail’s Merseyside sports reporter Dominic King has reportedly said our injury-prone striker Daniel Sturridge will not return until first team duties until after the the Christmas period.
The news was broken on Twitter by respected Liverpool blog Anfield HQ.
Daniel Sturridge has yet to resume training and is expected to be sidelined for the Christmas break and beyond. #lfc (Dom King)
— Anfield HQ (@AnfieldHQ) December 18, 2015
The club themselves are yet to comment on the extent of the 26 year old’s latest set-back, though the Echo reported two days ago that he would definitely miss this weekend’s trip to Watford.
Klopp had reportedly hoped that he would be fit again sooner rather than later, but he’s still receiving treatment on the hamstring injury he suffered in the 2-0 loss against Newcastle United two weeks ago.
In the aftermath of the match, Klopp said he hoped the player would be back in ten days. “It is a little hamstring. Nothing more”, said the German. “Now we have 10 days, I would say, until we think about if he should play. That would be the Watford game maybe. If he can run in eight days and be ready for physical training”.
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That prognosis now looks unlikely. Having participated in just 16 of our 83 fixtures, it appears that he’s no closer to the end of his ongoing injury nightmare.
We play Watford, Leicester, and Sunderland before the turn of the year, with the three games coming in the space of only ten days. Klopp would have presumably looked to Sturridge to lead the line for at least part of the run, but instead he might opt to once again go with a ‘false 9’ in Roberto Firmino.
In recent weeks, we’ve normally looked at our best with the Brazilian on the pitch. Let’s hope he can once again stand up in Daniel’s absence.