Former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has opened up on his injury problems throughout his career and explained the lengths he would go to to continue playing.
Speaking with Melissa Reddy for the latest Between The Lines podcast, Sturridge explained how he agreed with another of Jurgen Klopp's old players, Marco Reus, about how he would do anything to avoid injury.
He said: “Yeah. I mean, I saw a quote from (Marco) Reus the other day which said he’d pay any amount of money to just play injury free and never be injured. And honestly, I’d do the same. You know, I would.
"I would pay any amount of money. I’d spend loads of money outside of the physios at work to do extra stuff to ensure that I can be as healthy as possible. Hundreds of thousands, to be fair, you know, to make sure that my body has to be in the best shape possible. And sometimes, you can do, you can put the hours in, you can do everything. But sometimes it is just luck."
Sturridge scored 67 goals in 160 appearances for Liverpool although he suffered numerous injuries during his time at Anfield, having to endure extensive time on the sidelines and the 31-year-old says the impact on mental health could weigh just as heavy as the efforts to get back in shape physically.
“And the toughest thing is just the mental side of things because, you know you’ve given your all, you know you slept well, you know you ate well, you know you’ve got the treatment that you need to get.
"Everything in your mind. You’ve done everything - those small one per cents. And when you go through an injury the mental side of it is very tough because, if you’re not strong mentally, injuries will continue to break you and continue to send you down a dark path.
"I fortunately always was able to stay focused, always was able to continue to move forward and say, you know what, I’ve picked up a little bit of a knock, but I’ll be back in this time. I’ll be out on the pitch again."
The ex-Chelsea forward is currently without a club after he had his contract with Turkish club Trabzonspor mutually terminated in March on the same day he received a four-month worldwide ban for breaching betting rules.
He has since been linked with a host of clubs at home and abroad - including Inter Miami, owned in part by David Beckham - and trained with eighth-tier Kidsgrove Athletic last month as he stepped up efforts to find a new employer.
Seemingly more determined than ever, he retells the story of one fixture for Liverpool against rivals Manchester United, during which he played through the pain, as he looks to be given a chance to show his dedication for a new team once more.
“I’ve been someone who’s played on injuries too and put my body on the line for the team on countless, countless occasions. Played with injuries, played with even muscle strains, which, you know, is almost impossible to do, and I’ve walked over the white lines. I even remember scoring goals while you have muscle strain, which, again, is one of the hardest things you can do.
"You can’t maybe sprint as much as you want or shoot as hard as you want. I remember having a muscle strain and we played against Man United for Liverpool at home. We won 1-0 and I scored a header. And nobody knew this but before the match, I had a quad strain, I knew I was injured and the team knew I was injured, but I put my body on the line.
"That’s something I’ve always done. I’ve always put my body on the line. Sometimes the notion of, oh, do I go through the hard things to push myself or do I put my body on the line for the team. And absolutely, I’ve always done that.
"I’ve always put my body through everything to put the shirt on for the team, because it’s what I love.”
You can listen to the full interview with Daniel Sturridge in the third episode of ‘Between The Lines with Melissa Reddy’ now - available here.
