LIVERPOOL -- Daniel Sturridge is in contention to make his first Liverpool start since August in Saturday's Merseyside derby, manager Brendan Rodgers has indicated.
Sturridge has made two substitute appearances for the Reds since returning from a five-month injury absence. The England striker is working to regain his match fitness after being out with thigh and calf problems.
He scored on his comeback in a 2-0 Premier League win over West Ham last Saturday, before helping to inspire a late Reds recovery as they came from a goal down to win Wednesday's FA Cup fourth-round replay 2-1 at Bolton.
Rodgers said immediately after the Bolton game that Sturridge would start games when he is fully fit, while suggesting that he didn't want to ask him to do too much, too soon. But he will check the 25-year-old's fitness levels before deciding whether to throw him in from the start against Everton at Goodison Park.
Rodgers said: "Every player wants to play, not just Daniel. He's coming along very well. It's not he won't start. We just need to analyse that over the next couple of days."
Sturridge has scored in two of his three Merseyside derbies since arriving from Chelsea for 12 million pounds in January 2013. He scored an 89th-minute equaliser in a 3-3 draw at Goodison Park last season, then hit two more as Liverpool won the return fixture 4-0 -- missing a penalty that would have given him a hat trick.
Sturridge has told the BBC's Football Focus programme, in an interview to be aired on Saturday, that scoring a goal in a derby match is one of the best feelings he has ever experienced.
He said: "I've got no kids, so I don't know what that feeling's like. I wouldn't want to say what that feeling is. I don't know what it is. I'm talking about the experiences that I've had.
"And I'm talking about goals in games in which you can't compare the feeling. When I scored at the World Cup, the feeling was amazing.
"There was a goal I scored against Everton away, late on in the game. I see Everton fans in the city. I had one talking to me in a store, and he said: 'If you score, I'm not going to serve you.'
"It's about the bragging rights in the city. You want to give everyone in the city bragging rights as well. Scoring goals is the best thing in life for me. I don't know what else there is I could say is better than that.
"I've done a lot of things and had a lot of fun in life, but scoring goals is difficult to do. When you do it, it's a great feeling."