Brendan Rodgers believes Daniel Sturridge is the fittest he has been for 18 months but will still handle the forward with caution.

Sturridge, who spent most of the summer undergoing rehabilitation in the United States, returned to full training with the rest of the Liverpool squad this week after recovering from a hip operation in May.

He will not be ready for Saturday’s match against Manchester United at Old Trafford but his impending return will boost a squad which has scored only two goals in four matches and none in their past two.

“There is no timeline as to when he will be fit to participate in the game but he is obviously back in training, which is good,” said Rodgers, the Liverpool manager. “He looked really sharp in training, probably the best he’s looked fitness-wise for 18 months, and it will be really good when he gets back.

“I can never say that [he is over the worst of his injuries] because I don’t want to sit here and something happens in a couple of months’ time. I can only look at what I see and from my experiences in the past I don’t want to put any timeline on him coming back.

“I am grateful for the work done in America, for our own medical team who have done a brilliant job to do everything they possibly could to get Daniel back to a level of fitness. He has worked hard. He has joined in with the group and we will take it from there, day-by-day.”