Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is nearing the final stages of his recovery from injury, as reported by LiverpoolFC.com.
The England international has been out of action since the first international break of the season, having suffered a further injury setback which has seen him unexpectedly miss out on the majority of the first half of the season.
His last appearance for the Reds saw him play exceptionally in a dominating display at White Hart Lane, a game which the Anfield club won 3-0.
He scored in that match, and Brendan Rodgers’ side have been missing his presence ever since.
They have struggled in front of goal, in contrast to last season, when Sturridge and Luis Suarez formed a formidable partnership that pushed them to an unlikely title challenge.
However, he is now set to return from America after reaching the final stages of his rehab, and Rodgers believes this will come as a significant boost to his side.
He said: “He’s at a very late stage, he’s going to be back into the country over the next 24 hours – which is great.
“He’s into the final stages of rehab. We’re looking forward to having him back. The work that he’s done in America has been fantastic; he has been very well supported out there.
“He has obviously travelled about to get some of the best people in the world, specialising in his rehabilitation. He’ll now come back and finish it off here.
“We’re hoping that at some part in January he’ll be ready to come back into the team and the squad, and help us to achieve something in the second part of the season.
“We just need to assess him first, just to see where he’s at and get the feeling from him. We’ve taken our time on this one.
“We’re trying to look after the medium and long-term here, so he won’t be rushed. If we feel it’s the right thing to get him playing some practice games and training – then back into the first team – we’ll assess that.
“It’s difficult to forecast, especially with injuries. You can put a date and they come back earlier. You can put the same date and it might take a bit more time.
“We just need to assess it; we’ve had a lot of collaboration with our people in America, a lot of great work has gone in – video links and everything has been in place.
“We’ve been monitoring his situation and he looks in a really good moment. Hopefully, coming back at this late stage, he won’t be too far away. But we’ll just assess that when he does get back.”