Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge insists he would make his controversial England call all over again – despite provoking an angry broadside from his club manager.
Striker Sturridge was axed from the starting line-up for Saturday's Merseyside derby by boss Brendan Rodgers, who was “disappointed” his hitman chose to play 90 minutes of international football against Germany in midweek when he had been unable to train beforehand.
But, speaking after he made a dramatic impact from the bench to snatch a late equaliser against Everton, Sturridge insisted he had no regrets about playing for his country, despite the severe consequences.
“For me, regardless of what condition you are in, if you are selected by the England manager, you go out there and do the best you can, regardless of whether you are carrying an injury or not,” Sturridge explained.
“The England manager gave me an opportunity and it’s always a pleasure to put the England shirt on. Regardless of what condition you’re in, fit or not fit, if you are selected for England you go out there and do your best.”
Rodgers though, sees things very differently.
Despite Sturridge’s late heroics at the end of a magnificent derby encounter, the Reds' boss was still visibly upset that he was unable to call on his free-scoring striker’s services for the full game.
The Northern Irishman explained he felt Sturridge simply wasn’t in the right condition to play a full 90 minutes in such an explosive encounter, after missing training because he made the call to appear for his country.
And he made it clear that unless Sturridge knuckles down and shows intense commitment to the Anfield cause by getting himself out on the training pitch, he will be condemned to a long stint on the bench.
The forward though, insisted that he is ready to show Rodgers the desire to work hard for his place.
He added: “I have been hampered for the past three games. Since West Brom when I got the bang I’ve had blood underneath my muscles in my thigh. It’s still there now. When I shoot from long distance I still feel pain but it’s getting better.
“It’s important that I’m training. I didn’t get to train much when I was away with England - I only trained once before the game.
“I need to get the momentum going and just try to get it right and make sure I’m in the right condition to be able to go out there and do myself justice.
“I hope I’ll be fit enough to start against Hull next weekend. It would be great to be back in the side.”
Sturridge had an interesting weekend, being offered so public a warning by his manager and inciting the anger of Everton fans with his animated celebrations after scoring.
He insisted though, he was merely returning banter that had started long before derby weekend!
“The fans in that part of the ground were abusing me the whole time I was warming up, so it was only right that I went down there and gave them a bit back,” he laughed.
“It’s all about the banter. It was nothing personal.
“A lot of people on the sidelines give the players a lot of banter when they are warming up. Sometimes you get the opportunity to return the favour and on Saturday I got the chance to do that.
“A guy in the supermarket warned me he wouldn’t serve me if I scored, so I’m not going in my local Tesco for a while now!”
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