Daneil Sturridge to step out of uncle Dean's shadow
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DANIEL STURRIDGE plans to finally make a name for himself - after constantly being mistaken for his uncle.
ON THE SPOT: Sturridge scores from the spot for England [STUART ROBINSON] [STUART ROBINSON]
But while Dean never played for England, Daniel has every chance of starting up front with Wayne Rooney at the World Cup next summer.
He will get another chance to stake his claim tomorrow night against Germany after recovering from the thigh injury which ruled him out against Chile.
Sturridge, 24, said: "People called me Dean for a long time. They still do it now, it's still there.
"I don't mind it to be fair. If I get called Dean it's not a problem. I just say, 'Okay, I'm Dean then'.
"Sometimes if I'm at the airport they call me Dean and I'll say, 'Wait a minute, I'm Daniel!' But I'm proud of what my family has achieved in the past.
"They paved the way for me and I looked up to them when I was younger. I was happy to see my uncle play for Derby and my other uncle (Simon) play for Stoke.
"It was great as a youngster. I watched my dad (Michael) play on a Betamax recording at home when we lived in Hockley in Birmingham and he showed me some of his old games.
"He scored some good goals as well. It was great to look back and see the history of what my family has achieved.
MISTAKEN IDENTITY: Daniel's uncle Dean [ACTION IMAGES]
"The Betamaxs were from Finland when he played there. He also played for Wrexham and for Birmingham under Sir Alf Ramsey and Jim Smith.“People called me Dean for a long time, they still do it now”Daniel Sturridge
"My dad coached me a lot and took me onto the training field. He would take me out on the park, right foot or left foot, put out cones.
"We would go to the local park with my mum - dogs were chasing us! He showed me a lot of Pele videos, and I would go in the front garden trying to do them.
"He's showed me old videos of me playing football as well. You don't remember but looking back it was unbelievable. I would have been eight or nine then.
"I've got a little cousin playing for Aston Villa's under-12s. He's a striker as well. He's alright. I've got a female cousin, Hayley, who plays for Birmingham ladies, and another at Shrewsbury.
"There's too many of us. I think there needs to be another job in the family. My kids are not playing football."
Sturridge's own road to the top has been a long and rocky one. Signed by Manchester City at 13, he never really got an extended run in the first team and was sold to Chelsea in 2009.
ARM THE MAN: Sturridge celebrates [STUART ROBINISON]
It was only when he signed for Liverpool in January in a £12m deal that his career took off. His stunning chip in last month's 4-0 drubbing of West Brom was the finish of a man at the top of his game.
He has scored 10 times for the Reds this season, forming a dynamic partnership with Luis Suarez - and hopes his link-up with Rooney for England proves just as successful.
Shoulder Sturridge said: "Wazza is a world-class player and it is easy to play with him. I enjoy it. We complement each other.
"In training, it is almost like we don't need to work on things," he said. "We know where we are, where team-mates are, you look over your shoulder and see your team-mates.
"You don't need to work on these things, it is about playing, enjoying it, working with each other, enjoying yourself up front and trying to score goals." Sturridge is determined to make the plane to Brazil after missing out on England's friendly in Rio in the summer with an ankle injury.
He added: "It was such a difficult time to have an injury. I really wanted to play against Brazil to showcase my talents.
"The boys did well but I was devastated I couldn't show what I could do."
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