Former Liverpool player Didi Hamann has told current manager Jurgen Klopp to "stop protecting" Daniel Sturridge and to give the fans the truth about the injury-prone striker's continued absence.

“The club has got a responsibility to tell the paying public what is wrong with him. If he has got a hamstring injury, an ankle injury, or whatever he may have, the people who pay for a season ticket have got a right to know what is wrong with him," Hamann told Talksport.

“Judging by the way Jurgen Klopp answered his questions [ahead of the Manchester United game], I don't think there is too much wrong with the player. If there is nothing wrong with him, it is more important to be honest and truthful with the paying public than to protect a player who has hardly played in the last 18 months, who seems to choose when he wants to play.

“He has got three years left on his contract and I don’t see any reason, if there is nothing wrong with the player, why the club should protect him.”

Hamann also recalled the time he spent alongside a young Sturridge hoping to break into the first team at Manchester City when, he claims, it was clear from a very early stage that Sturridge was not prepared to push his body to the limit.

“There was always something wrong with him on the Thursday or the Friday. His back, his hamstring, there was always something," Hamann said.

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“If you look at his record since he has played professional football he probably doesn’t average half the games a season - and it has got worse at Liverpool. I am not saying he is pretending to be injured, I’m not sure. But if he is injured, say it. Nobody knows what is going on with him.

“People have spent £800 or £1000 to watch Liverpool at home and sometimes even away, and the star player is not playing and nobody knows where he is. If there isn’t a problem with him, then it is time to stop protecting the player.”

Liverpool are ninth in the table after 22 games with Sturridge having started three of those. His best performance of the season came when he scored a brace in the 6-1 Capital One Cup win at Southampton at the start of December, but he has since managed only 28 minutes of action in any competition.