Jurgen Klopp wants to build up Daniel Sturridge's resistance to injury
Thursday 10 December 2015 11:55, UK
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says Daniel Sturridge's resistance to injury must be nurtured before he returns to the side on a regular basis.
Sturridge is back on the sidelines with a hamstring injury suffered against Newcastle on Sunday, although Klopp is hopeful his absence will not be significant in terms of time.
The England international had only made one start since coming back from a knee injury - scoring twice against Southampton in the Capital One Cup - before his ill-fated 28-minute outing off the bench at St James' Park.
And Klopp now knows he will have to work with the club's strength and conditioning staff to work out a tailored training plan for the 26-year-old, who was playing for only the sixth time since April 8.
"There are two different things we have to look on. The one is the injury and the other is how we bring him into shape so it's not so intensive for him when he needs to train," Klopp said before Thursday's Europa League clash with Sion in Switzerland.
"The good thing with the muscle injury is he could start to run and all the others things he needs, but not play football.
"We have to try, together with him, to make it more resistant. The problem is Daniel had his injuries, but, after two days, the question is always, 'Is he available?'. I say, 'No, of course not'. Then another striker gets injured, so we say, 'Come on, let's try'.
"But he had absolutely no pre-season. He started training, I'm not 100 per cent sure when. Then he started playing - another injury. Then he has 10 days, another game. That is the problem.
"We have 10 days until we think about if he should play. That would be the Watford game [December 20]. Eight days might be the longest time he has trained in the last year.
"In this moment he cannot play three games in a week. If you have a pre-season, if you have a normal period of time training, then you are ready for this.
"It is very important with all the games we have to find the specific point when it is possible to bring him for minutes and what makes more sense for his general shape.
"I can't say what we will do exactly, but we have to look at it. The injury is not that serious but we have to build up his resistance. You have to cool down this situation a bit and help him be more resistant. That is how it is."
