Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has defended teammate Mario Balotelli.

Sturridge says claims over Balotelli's antics off the pitch are overblown.

He told the Mail on Sunday: "In football you meet people who are cool guys and he is one of those guys. He is a young guy who just wants to live his life. Anyone at the age of 24, if you put a microscope on them for a few months and see how they are living, it would probably be far worse than Mario.

"He is a normal guy. Footballers are put on a pedestal of not being human but we are just normal people. I am a normal dude."