Sturridge not available for Tuesday's Capital One Cup match vs. Stoke City

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge will not return in time for Tuesday's Capital One Cup tie at Stoke City.

Manager Jurgen Klopp refuses to play the 26-year-old - who has not featured since suffering a hamstring injury Dec. 6 - until he has completed consecutive days of training without issue.

Sturridge has not yet participated in a full team session.

"Daniel had some problems, not serious, but could not make a session and we had to wait a day," Klopp told reporters. "It is how a preseason can be. Some little things happen and we have to handle this.

"What Daniel has to do at this moment is hard work to be prepared for the things we make in a football game. He had the last complete preseason in 2011. In preseason we load our bodies with strength, energy, all we need for the games and then the problems start."

Sturridge had declared himself "good to go" toward the end of December, but Klopp says he would rather be patient than risk a recurrence of any one of his previous injuries.

The England international has missed time with various foot, hip, groin, and thigh problems over the past two seasons.

"I will pick him when he is ready, I will not hold him back," said Klopp. "Because he didn't have one session with the team it was not the usual plan for this week."