PHOTO: Daniel Sturridge Continues His Road to Recovery

After being excused from the England squad for their upcoming Euro-2016 qualifying matches, Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge stepped up his road to recovery by taking on some more intensive training at Melwood earlier today.

Although he didn’t get back into the thick of things with the rest of the squad, the 25-year old isn’t too far off and is expected to face Queens Park Rangers when the Reds return to Premier League action next weekend. Sturridge completed around 40-minutes of drills where he ran alongside plastic dummies and cones under the watchful eye of Liverpool rehabilitation coach Jordan Milsom. The Three Lions take on European minnows San Marino later in the day, and though they should be able to navigate them handily without Sturridge, there were questions for England boss Roy Hodgson whether or not the striker would play any part when his side faces Estonia on Sunday.

“No, he’s not played for Liverpool at all since picking up the injury with us” explained the former Liverpool manager, rubbishing suggestions that Sturridge could meet up with the England squad. “If he was to get fitter during the week which starts on Monday, then he’s still got a lot of work to do to bring himself up to speed to be able to play for Liverpool in their games.”

Reds boss Brendan Rodgers has been highly critical of the Three Lions training and recovery schedule which he believes caused Sturridge’s thigh injury in the first place. The regime of the national team is at odds with how they do things at Melwood, though the two managers have appeared to have reached a détente in their tug of war over the striker — for the moment anyway.