The Reds went on to seal a spot in the Round of 32 with a narrow 2-1 victory over the French side, but this latest setback in Sturridge’s long road to recovery will certainly put a damper on any celebrations.
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Sturridge is yet to play for Liverpool under new manager Jurgen Klopp, and the aforementioned report claims he will not feature on Sunday either, as he underwent scans on his foot on Friday.
But the England global has missed all nine of the German’s matches in charge of Liverpool, having been absent for more than a month with a bruised knee.
“You have to learn what is serious pain or only pain – but of course everyone wants him back”.
Klopp also revealed that midfield pair Jordan Henderson – who has been out of action since August – and Jordan Rossiter have returned to training, while Joe Allen is likely to start against former club Swansea on Sunday.
Henderson has not played since August 17, initially because of a bruised heel and then because of a broken bone in his foot, but the midfielder is now back in full training and may face the Swans at Anfield. But we have to wait to see how he adapts to training.
“Usually, in a ideal world, you should train five weeks in a row when you have been out this long like in pre-season”.
Sturridge does have natural finishing ability; we all saw how great he can be, that incredible 2013 season will always be in our minds.
“He needs to be fit, really fit, not 50 percent”.
But Monk, who guided the club to their best ever Premier League finish of eighth place last season, insists he retains the backing of club chairman Huw Jenkins and has been charged with leading an upturn in fortunes.
“There is no doubt about the quality of all the strikers that we have, no doubt, now we have to help them to show it better and better”, he added.
He told Liverpool’s official website: “I’m very happy because I think it’s good news”. He can be much more dominant in the game, which we have talked about.
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“It’s not the most hard situation with the strikers because we have Christian Benteke, Divock Origi and Roberto (Firmino)”, he said. “We have to decide”. We have to defend very well, that is for sure.
