Roy Hodgson has finally received some encouraging news after Daniel Sturridge reported for duty with England's senior squad at St George's Park before the World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine, with the Liverpool forward hoping to prove his fitness despite suffering from a thigh complaint.

Sturridge's club manager, Brendan Rodgers, admitted the striker had been struggling in the buildup to Sunday's visit of Manchester United to Anfield, in which he scored the only goal, his fifth in four matches this season, after suffering the thigh injury last week. Rodgers had gone on to stress "the priority is Liverpool" and that the club would be seeking to ensure the 22-year-old is not risked if there was any danger of suffering more serious damage.

The player will continue to be closely monitored by England's medical staff over the course of this week and Sturridge expects to be fit for the game at Wembley on Friday and next week's daunting trip to Kiev. The striker was one of a number of players who worked in the gym at the England training base on Monday afternoon having featured for their clubs in the Premier League the previous day. Hodgson also took time to watch Gareth Southgate put his first Under-21 squad through their paces.

The senior manager lost three players – Wayne Rooney and Phil Jones from United, and Liverpool's Glen Johnson – on Sunday, and the Cardiff defender Steven Caulker has been called up to the squad. Jack Wilshere, who was withdrawn before half-time in Arsenal's derby victory over Tottenham Hotspur due to illness, should also be fit to feature against Moldova. Hodgson has warned his players against complacency in that fixture.

England beat these opponents 5-0 in their opening game, but a side ranked 123rd in the world took points from Ukraine and Poland in the group. "Moldova also lost in the last minute to a very fortunate goal against Montenegro, otherwise they'd have an even better points tally," said Hodgson. "I don't think I need to caution the players or guard against complacency, and I don't think I've seen any signs of that in the games we've played. If I did think any complacency was creeping in I'd be very quick to move in and quash it."