Sturridge: I'm feeling good and ready to build on Huddersfield strike

The forward grabbed his second goal of 2017-18 when he coolly lifted a wayward ball over the advancing Jonas Lossl to break the deadlock on Saturday and set the Reds on their way to a crucial 3-0 win.

Now Sturridge has Maribor in his sights and is eager to retain his berth in the starting line-up.

If he is to do so, it’d be the first time the 28-year-old has started in the Champions League for Liverpool having sat out of the 2014-15 campaign due to injury.

“We've been in the Champions League two times since I've been at the club,” Sturridge told the Liverpool Echo.

“Obviously I missed out the first time but hopefully I can be a big part of this European campaign.

“I played in the competition many times for Chelsea and we won it when I was there.

“It's nothing new to me. You want to be playing at this level. I am ready for when the opportunity comes.

“The manager picks the team. We'll have to wait and see what he decides.

“From my perspective, I'm feeling good. I want to stay healthy and I want to keep scoring goals for the team.

“It's my job to go out there, put my best foot forward and show what I can do.”

LFCTV GO: Sturridge opens scoring against Huddersfield

Sturridge’s strike against Huddersfield was the 100^th club goal of his career; however, it wasn’t a milestone that’s been on his mind since reaching strike No.99 against Arsenal in August.

“I'm not someone who looks at individual stuff like that,” he admitted.

“I wasn't thinking 'Can I get my 100 goal?', it was more a case of 'I'm playing so I need to perform as well as I possibly can.'

“As the game went on I was out there thinking 'This team are really difficult to break down.' There wasn't much space, they were defending so deep.

“Everyone could feel the pressure mounting. As a striker it's important to get yourself in the right positions and to take the opportunities when they come along.

“After getting the breakthrough it was a case of ‘OK, let's try to pile on the pressure.'

“Saturday was a big game for us after the heavy defeat to Tottenham. We all wanted to bounce back. We kept our concentration and in the end we imposed our style on them.”

The triumph over Huddersfield was a much-needed one, given it ended a run of three Premier League fixtures without a victory.

Looking forward, Sturridge is aiming to play his part in helping Liverpool achieve six points from the games with Maribor and West Ham United before signing off for the international break.

He explained: “You want to help the team win. All strikers have that mentality where they want to show what they can do. I enjoy scoring goals. It's what I love to do.

“Saturday was a good day for us but we've got two more big games to go before the international break and it's vital we keep it going.

"It's Maribor and then West Ham – we need six points out of six.

“We have a squad full of talented footballers here. We will push as hard as we possibly can to ensure we reach the targets set by the manager. We all want to bring success to this club.”

Liverpool struck seven times without reply when they met Maribor in Slovenia a fortnight ago and so are naturally favourites to record another success on Wednesday.

Nevertheless, Sturridge insists the Reds are taking nothing for granted.

He added: “We're professional. We know what we have to do.

“Nobody will be thinking about that 7-0 win. We won't take them lightly. All opponents pose different threats. We won't under-estimate Maribor.

“What happened in the first game against them won't count for anything on Wednesday night.”

Sturridge was speaking at an event to launch LFC Retail's Christmas campaign. Click here for more details.