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Daniel Sturridge is set to wait for a return to Liverpool’s starting line up – as Brendan Rodgers hailed him a “genuine top European talent”.

The 25-year-old’s fairytale return lit up Anfield on Saturday with his goal against West Ham 12 minutes after leaving the bench sealing a comprehensive 2-0 win.

The huge ovation from the Anfield faithful showed how much they had missed the striker’s finishing prowess but his manager is keen to take things steadily after a long and initially fraught five months without his star striker.

Rodgers said: “He’s still a bit of time off starting. You saw in the period when he came on he was still getting used to the surroundings again in the 25 minutes or so he had on the pitch so it’s just about bedding him back in.

“But to know that he’s there over the next two to three weeks when it will be about regaining his football fitness and until he’s ready to start he’s going to be a great asset for us off the bench.”

When Sturridge is available for inclusion in the starting 11 remains open to question but it seems unlikely to be in time for either Wednesday night’s FA Cup fourth round reply at Bolton – where he spent four months on loan in 2011 – or the Goodison Park derby against Everton on Saturday, a team he scored three goals against last season.

“It’ll just depend. We need to assess it over the next week again but obviously we’ve got games and he’ll be getting his football fitness in those games”, said Rodgers.

“It takes a bit of time and he’s been out for a long spell so we just want to make sure that he’s ready and fit to start.”

But the Ulsterman is in no doubt as to the effect Sturridge’s return – five months to the day since his last appearance against Spurs on August 31 – will have on his own team and the opposition.

“I think you’ve got a genuine top European talent in Daniel Sturridge. If you put him onto the field everyone knows his pace and that will always frighten teams.

“A back four when you put Sturridge on, the power that he has and that ability to go either way which you see from the goal, that came taking a great touch on his weaker side and a wonderful finish.

“He lights up this team. He provides the light. When you add a top class player like him to it you can go to another level. When he came on in that period the team looked very, very good.”

One player who would have started at Bolton – were he not Cup-tied – is Jordon Ibe who almost marked his first appearance in the first team since returning from a loan spell at Derby with a late goal from the bench.

Rodgers believes the current 3-4-2-1 formation will give the versatile 19-year-old more opportunities to feature at the highest level after his successful spell in the Championship.

“I think he’s ready now. Obviously you saw what he can do in his cameo today and it’s just unfortunate that he’s not available for the cups,” he said.

“But I brought him back because with the set-up of the team there are more opportunities for him to play now.

“He can play in maybe four positions. He’s diligent enough. He gets forward but he also gets back, recovers well, so there are going to be more opportunities for him.

“I think he’s going to be a big player for us because he’s a wonderful talent with his power and pace and he will be huge for us in the coming years.”