Daniel Sturridge fielded questions from the media at a pre-Augsburg press conference at Melwood on Wednesday afternoon. Here's a full transcript of what the striker had to say...

Daniel, you look happy to be back. How ready are you to play two big games in the space of four days?

It’s important for everyone to be ready, not just myself. It’s a collective for the team to be ready for the two games ahead. We’re prepared for it, we’re ready for them and it’s important to go out there with the right mentality and hopefully we’ll get the jobs done.

As well as dealing with your recovery, there’s recently been speculation about your future. What did you make of it and, overall, what was the time out like for you?

I think it’s important to worry about the present. Of course, it’s been a difficult time being injured, but it’s part of football. Now I am looking forward to the future, of course with Liverpool. There’s not really much to worry about or stress about in the situation – I’m pretty relaxed and I’ve been relaxed the whole time. I am happy here.

You’ve got your family and close friends around you, but how important have your Liverpool family been around you in terms of getting to this point?

I’ve always had my family with me, my friends and Liverpool – and it’s about football at the end of the day. Nothing more, nothing less. I’m happy to be playing and that’s all that matters.

With you being on social media, you might be aware of some of the things that people have said about you. Some of the suggestions have been that you haven’t wanted to play – there has even been the suggestion that your religious beliefs [might be a reason]. I know that’s nonsense, but how does that questioning make you feel?

I don’t listen to social media, so I’m not aware to be honest. It’s surprising. I didn’t know religion had anything to do with football, firstly. As a child, you don’t think about those things. To say a player doesn’t want to play is the biggest disrespect you could ever say to any individual footballer, to be honest. It’s astonishing and disappointing, [from] whoever is saying it. It’s very disappointing to hear that from whoever says it, but it’s football and people are entitled to their opinions. All I can say is I don’t think anybody will understand how much it means to me to play football. As I said, I will continue to do my best and focus on playing for Liverpool Football Club – and that’s all that matters.

Can you give us an insight into how difficult it has been in the last couple of months? Was last season more difficult in terms of the injuries, or has this been even more problematic?

You know what, in life there are times where you have great periods and there are times where you have difficult periods. It’s in every walk of life, not just football but in every normal job. People go through difficult times. It’s how you come out of those, it’s how you deal with those situations. I’ve never worried about it, to be honest. A lot of people talk, I don’t listen. I worry about what I can do, I worry about how my family feel. I am blessed by God. I have no worries at all – zero stresses. I am just happy. I am a happy guy and I am blessed. Where I have come from, I have come a long way from Hockley in Birmingham and my roots, Jamaican. My family is blessed, I am blessed, I am good.

Daniel, when you were in recovery the club gave you a new deal. Can you talk about the frustration that you haven’t been able to play since then, really, and whether you feel you maybe owe the club a little bit as well to show what you can do on the pitch because you’re such a star player?

I’m very ambitious. I am very determined to help Liverpool have some success. I am totally focused and, of course, I want to be on the pitch playing every game – just like every player wants to. It hurts to not be able to play – I’d be lying if I said that [it didn’t]. You have to be strong in these situations and it’s important to understand that I am not somebody who is at the house chilling, laughing and joking, going out with my friends, living life to the fullest when I am not playing. I am devastated, I’m at home, in my house, I am not enjoying life, I am not happy, I am not stress free. I am at home devastated, sitting in the stands devastated, watching my teammates play. It hurts to hear what people have said second and third hand because, as I said, I don’t listen or hear anything. Some of the things people say about me, I can probably say a lot of them aren’t the truth. All I want to do is play football and help this team have success. That’s the most important thing to me – nothing else matters.