Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that he will continue to be patient with injury-plagued striker Daniel Sturridge.

The 26-year-old striker has been struggling with fitness issues for the last couple of seasons and has made only 17 league appearances during this time.

Recent reports claimed that the German manager might soon lose patience with the talented striker if he doesn't overcome his injury problems soon but Klopp has no plans to offload Sturridge as he recalled a similar situation with a talented Borussia Dortmund youngster.

He said: "What do we have to make a decision about?

"I have two-and-a-half years left on my contract and have been here three or four months. That's not a problem.

"I had 15 months with Ilkay Gündogan where we had to all wait but it was his back and we had no chance to force it. It's not a back problem with Daniel but it's the muscle.

"Out of responsibility, we have to do everything we can to give him the physical strength to be able to play Premier League football. We all know it's pretty easy for him when he's fit but at this moment he isn't.

"We cannot change this and I am not thinking about making a general decision [about him] at the moment. To have a player like Daniel in your squad is always a good situation and when it's not possible to use him it's not a good situation."