And boss Mark Hughes believes the 19-year-old is finally ready for the responsibility of being centre stage after coming of age in his eye-catching 48-minute appearance against Stoke City on Sunday.
Teenager Sturridge, who has previously been restricted to bit parts under the new manager, had a foot in both of Brazilian Robinho's second half goals as the Blues cruised to a 3-0 win that lifted Hughes' side into eighth place in the table.
He had come on as a substitute just before the interval in place of fellow Academy graduate Ched Evans, who suffered a nasty knee injury.
First choice attack leader Jo missed the game thanks to a throat virus and is struggling to shake it off in time for the trip to the Riverside, the first of consecutive away matches that conclude at Bolton.
Evans has responded well to treatment on his knee, but if he is not fully fit it would leave the City chief short on attacking options though he can call upon Ecuador World Cup star Felipe Caicedo and Benjani is close to being ready for a recall to the squad.
Hughes though is likely to hand Sturridge a second league start of the season - he scored on his other one against West Ham.
"If there has been a criticism of Daniel it is that when he has come on the field he has been so desperate to do well that he has picked the wrong options and shot when he might have passed and vice-versa," said the Blues boss.
"That wasn't the case against Stoke and I thought he was excellent throughout the game. He linked up really well and picked out people in key areas for us."
CITY will host half-term sports activities this Thursday between 1pm-4pm.
As part of the Getting Manchester Moving campaign, the Football Foundation has funded the club's registered charity City in the Community to put on a range of activities including hockey, netball, boxing, dance, cycling, penalty shootout, lacrosse, and table tennis.
The showcase will highlight a campaign that aims to encourage local families to participate in physical activity at any level, from recreation to competition. Manchester community health trainers will be available on the day to offer free health advice. The health trainers scheme sees members of the community provide one-to-one support to help people take the first steps to becoming more active and eating more healthily.
Registration takes place on the day in the Commonwealth Suite. For more information visit www.gettingmanchester moving.org or call 438 7711.
What is your verdict on Sturridge's performances so far this season? Have your say.
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Deserves to start at Boro.
In what way is Caicedo a world cup star?
Revenge is what we need!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i think mark hughes is handling sturridge superbly it is clear for everyone one too see this lad is class.i would not let him go out on loan i think it would be better for his football education training and playing with world class players everyday......can anyone tell me when benjani will be back on the bench....
With Danny (also Ched and Jo) we have a young striker with bags of potential... I would like to see him given a run in the side to prove what he can do... he certainly looks like the real deal to me.
Another thing that needs considering is the policy on foreign/players not from the Acadamy in Europe, in seasons to come upto 10 of the 25 you are allowed to register might have to be English/from the Acadamy... we shouldnt disguard our youth players for this reason alone, and there are other reasons as well, no matter how much money we have.
CTID
On the official site in the what the papers say section, they ask the question is Dan the man for QPR?, theres also a picture of Danny pointing and laughing which i imagine was his reaction to that teaser.
A definite no-brainer for me. He's worth a start after Sunday's performance.
It will be interesting to see if Rob wears short sleeves tomorrow night in Boro! I can remember how cold it was in that 3rd round FA Cup game when Lakey did his knee again, at Ayresome Park, and it will be even colder tomorrow night.
I think a sneaky 2-1 win will be on the cards.
when given the OPPORTUNITY sturridge has showed what a exceptional ENGLISH TALENT HE IS
I said at the start of the season that Danny and Elano would come through this year and nothing I've seen so far has changed my mind. DS was stunning on Sunday, full of confidence, tricks and ability, and he should be given a run of games for my money. Unfortunately, I have been disappointed with Ched's last two performances, with the ball refusing to stick to him when it was played forward. Of course I'll still support him though.
I would love to see Sturridge get a good run in the side. I think he is / certainly will be one of best players. He always causes teams problems when he comes on.
He s good enough now ..no loans, no more nurturing the guy is ready, right here right now...gonna be a big star, dosent need any more wrapping in cotton wool...the time is now!!
I am glad that through these injuries Sturridge has another chance to show what he's about. I couldn't see why Evans jumped ahead of him in the peckin' order, Sturridge has miles more quality and is more ready for Prem football. He argubly changed the game against Stoke and he clearly works better with our attack because he simply has more class about him.
Great comments from MH, who I am sure is fully aware of what a precious talent we have in Danny. While reminding ourselves as always “don’t expect too much too soon”, I think we can expect this hugely exciting talent to start blossoming and reaching his full potential as this season unfolds. And I for one can watch our third against Stoke again and again and again!
when given the OPPORTUNITY sturridge has showed what a exceptional ENGLISH TALENT HE IS
YESSSS DANIEL STURRIDGE IT IS TIME TO TAKE WHAT YOU DESERVE AND HOLD NOTHING BACK UNLEASE ON THE BORO AND TRY & SCORE TOO!!!!!
Its too early to dismiss Ched, particularly as I dont think he is a lone striker.
Sturridge though is more suited to the lone striker role in the set-up we are playing and I think he is definitely due a run.
I'm sorry Ched but you have done nothing but complain about lack of chances, well Your performance Sundany just showed i dont think your cut for the top flight yet, Sturridge has what it takes to be top class. GARRIDO GOTTA GO.
Yes please! My only reservasion about Dan was that he had a tendancy to get his head stuck over the ball from time to time. His vision against Stoke was first class and he is obviously revelling in training with these guys day in day out. I thought he was great against West Ham aswell and he may finally get the run in the side that he deserves. This will be no walk over and we will have to be on our game if we are going to get the points at the Riverside.
He is one off if not the best young english talent
The penny seems to have dropped with Danny Sturridge judging by his performance on Sunday. Earlier in the season he adopted a shoot on site policy and although you need to be a little selfish to be a top striker you also need that awareness of players around you.
He showed that he has matured and listened to the coaching staff by picking out players in better positions than himself to score a goal (e.g. two assists to Robinho). Sounds to me like MH knows how to get his message across quickly and the younger players are listening.
Our "promising" youngsters are now developing under Hughes' management. You only have to look at the consistency of Stevie Ireland's performances this season to see that the potential of our academy graduates are coming to fruition!
MacBlue, (exiled Manc), Edinburgh
28/10/2008 at 11:37
I agree, Stevie Ireland goes to the gym near my house and he was told in the pre-season that he had to be able to run, box to box, for 95 minutes - he was given a diet and training regime and his fitness (along with one or two others like Elano being one of them) was assessed in the first week back in training.
This, along with the day-to-day work with MH and his back room team has only made these players better as far as I'm concerned.
So I say to all the MH knockers - leave the guy alone to get on with his job and we'll be challenging the top 4 in the next 2 years with a good mix of home grown talent and exceptionally gifted superstars.
In KAM, GC&MH We Trust. CTID
MacBlue, (exiled Manc), Edinburgh
28/10/2008 at 11:37
Well said mate. I still had my doubts about whether Sturridge was ready but he completely proved me wrong on Sunday and I thought he showed a great maturity in that game. I really think he should start tomorrow and I wouldn’t be surprised if he went on to cement his place in the first team. Hopefully he’ll bag an early goal and this will give him a confidence boost to go on and play like he did on Sunday.
Daniels performance after he came on against Stoke was extremely promising he looks to have matured of late and the vision he showed in setting two of Robinho's goals was QUALITY --what a tragedy if his great potential was lost because of our newly found financial power....
The master stroke that MH has played is to play Dan and Ched off against each other to force the other to raise their game if the other gets the nod.
Dan will win no doubt and THIS is the time to play him for a run of games.
macblue u talk crap!!!!!!!!!
when a striker does not score he gets dropped a striker has 2 be selfish 2 make a career in football because a striker is judged on goals/ratio per game....
also to even say danny hasnt got awareness around him is a disgrace didnt u watch the game vs midtjylland when he played johnson through 1 on 1 with keeper also putting through petrov on numerous occassions against celtic and midtjyllland at home.....
plus he has started 3 games in 2 seasons and scored 2 goals 3rd game was against arsenal playing up front on his own against world class defenders i.e gallas,clichy,sagna and toure as an 18 year old....
so macblue think long and hard before u start slateing top young english talent