Stuart Pearce has defended Daniel Sturridge after suggestions that the Liverpool striker's appetite for the game may have waned.
The 26-year-old has been blighted by injuries over the past two seasons, although the seriousness of them has been questioned recently, with former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann suggesting that there might not be too much wrong with him.
However, Pearce, who coached Sturridge at Manchester City, England Under-21s and for the Great Britain Olympic team in 2012, believes that the striker is only coming under scrutiny because of his importance to Liverpool.
"I honestly don't believe there's a player out there that doesn't want to play football. I find it hard to believe, I really do. This is a profession I absolutely love to bits. I love playing football and it's been my life. So I find it difficult to believe that there is a player out there. Especially a player I know quite well and have been alongside him on three different occasions," Pearce told talkSPORT.
"I don't see that with him. I would not turn around and say Daniel Sturridge is a player that doesn't like football - in any way, shape or form. He loves the game, he's enjoyed it and I think the one thing that puts Daniel Sturridge at the forefront of people's mind because of this injury is the fact he is so important to Liverpool. I'm looking at his stats here at Liverpool – 77 games, 44 goals. More than a one in two ratio, that is outstanding.
"That is probably why he is in the forefront of people's mind. There's a frustration because [Christian] Benteke has not hit it off. If Benteke hit it off there wouldn't be so much talk about Daniel Sturridge. Because Benteke's been on the bench, they are suggesting he has not had a good time at Liverpool. At the forefront of your mind then is Daniel Sturridge. You only have to go back a couple of years to see Luis Suarez and Sturridge up front - they were unstoppable.
"I am sure there are some players who have had similar types of injuries – Jon Flanagan has come back after a year-and-a-half. Are we suggesting he doesn't like football? Of course not. I think it's a bit tough on Daniel. You've got to put yourself in the physio room, they'll be scratching their heads on this one. From Sturridge's point of view he's come back at Southampton and won 6-1 - people think 'wow, that's with Sturridge in the team'. The only people who are quantified to turn around and say he is not injured is Daniel Sturridge and the physio department at Liverpool Football Club."
Sturridge, who is still yet to start a Premier League match under Jurgen Klopp, has recently been linked with a move to West Ham United.
