Sturridge to continue injury rehab overseas

LONDON - Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers on Thursday confirmed injury-plagued England striker Daniel Sturridge has been sent on an overseas training trip to aid his recovery from a thigh problem.

Sturridge has struggled with a series of injury issues this season and hasn't played for Liverpool since August 31 after straining his thigh on international duty.

On the eve of his comeback from that injury he pulled a calf muscle in his first training session back with the team and, just when he appeared to have got over that, he sustained another different thigh injury which has ruled him out until the new year.

Rodgers said last month that Liverpool's medical team would look deeper into the root of Sturridge's problems, with the player suggesting the issue may be hereditary as his father, a trainee at Birmingham, and two uncles Dean and Simon - both professional footballers - also suffered the same problems.

With the harsh winter climate in England not conducive to quality recovery work, reports in the British media on Thursday claimed Sturridge had flown to Los Angeles to undergo warm-weather training and rehabilitation for a fortnight.

The 25-year-old isn't believed to have gone to California to have any specific medical treatment or procedure.

"He has gone away to get some specific work in with some of our staff and he is coming along well," Rodgers said.