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Daniel Sturridge has revealed how he has tried to help Mario Balotelli through his torrid time at Liverpool.

Balotelli finally scored his first Premier League goal with his late winner against Tottenham and Sturridge says he has been spending time talking to the Italian striker.

"For me, it's always about trying to help players who are here, not just Mario, but all the boys who are at the club," said England striker Sturridge.

"It's not easy to settle into a new team, a new area, a new lifestyle, with different people around you and so on and so forth. People don't ever take that into account.

"I just try to do my bit, although I'm not taking any credit for him scoring. I'm just happy he did.

(Image: C1 PHOTOGRAPHY)

"He's been waiting for a while to break his duck and been working very hard in training, and now he has scored one in the league, I'm sure things will start to go his way now."

Balotelli will remain on the fringes at Liverpool, despite his third goal for the club, and Sturridge will take centre stage after coming through his first start since August 31.

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Sturridge was frustrated watching Liverpool crash out of the Champions League while he was injured and says this has fired him up to make the top four.

"That was probably the most frustrating thing of all, watching from the sidelines, and in the States, and seeing how unlucky we were not to advance in the competition," he said.

Liverpool 3-2 Tottenham in pictures:

"I'm disappointed not to be fighting on all fronts and trying to win the Premier League after last season and how well we did.

"We will look to do that next season, but we still have a lot to play for in this one.

"Every game is a big one, they are finals for us. That's the truth of it. It's important for us to be in the top four and to win some silverware. If we can do that, it will be a great achievement."