• Premier League

Sturridge: Injury problems may be hereditary

Daniel Sturridge says his persistent injury problems could be hereditary as he faces several more weeks out for Liverpool with a calf strain.

The striker has not featured for club or country since picking up a thigh injury during England training at the beginning of September and Liverpool have struggled in the his absence.

Daniel Sturridge has not played for club or country since suffering a thigh injury in September © Getty Images

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Sturridge's uncles Dean and Simon were both professional footballers while his father was a trainee at Birmingham, and he says his current injury problems could be due to his Caribbean genes.

"I play my game as best I can, but I've been unfortunate this season," Sturridge told talkSPORT. "Maybe it's my body type, maybe it's hereditary.

"Both my uncles had injuries, and my dad had them as well. Maybe it's the Caribbean vibes, maybe I have speed but maybe it makes you more vulnerable because of the fast twitch muscles and the speed in which you're moving.

"I am vulnerable to muscle injuries. As long as I continue to work hard everything will take care of itself."

In Sturridge's absence, Liverpool have relied on Mario Balotelli up front but the £16 million summer signing has yet to score in the Premier League.

Balotelli, who scored as Liverpool beat Swansea 2-1 in the League Cup in Tuesday, also attracted criticism from his manager Brendan Rodgers for swapping shirts with Pepe at half-time during the 3-0 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.

However, Sturridge has stood up for Balotelli and is hoping they can form a similarly lethal pairing as the one he enjoyed with Luis Suarez last season.

He added: "We get on well off the field and in the changing rooms. We're always laughing and joking.

"Once I get back fit I'm hoping we can strike up a partnership. Last season with Luis [Suarez] we had a great relationship up front and scored a lot of goals. Hopefully this season it will be the same.

"He's a likeable person. I don't have any bad words to say about him. People don't realise what he's been through in his life to get where he is today."

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