Sturridge hails Reds stature

Sturridge hails Reds stature

Published Jan. 8, 2013 1:15 p.m. ET

Kilmarnock boss Kenny Shiels is hopeful midfielder Liam Kelly with stay at Rugby Park, despite interest from Bristol City.

The Robins sit just one point above bottom placed Barnsley in the Championship, and have reportedly offered ?200,000 for the Scot, who is believed to be keen to return to England.

Kelly's contract expires at the end of the season, and while the former MK Dons player has not rejected the offer of a new contract, Shiels is hopeful he will stay.

Speaking to STV, Shiels said: "Liam is happy to stay with us. I'm sure he'll get plenty of offers but hopefully we can keep him at the club.

ADVERTISEMENT

"In fact we would be keen to tie him to a new deal."

Argyle are currently second bottom of the entire Football League having one just one of their last 16 games, a run which led them to part company with Carl Fletcher in the aftermath of their 2-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers.

And as Brent, who has owned the club since October 2011, prepared to unveil the club's new manager John Sheridan on Tuesday he had a message for the club's long-serving support.

"I would like to offer my sincere apologies to our fans for the very troubled first half of the season that we have had," he said. "We had genuine expectations that we would be excited, in a different part of the table than we are at the moment so my apologies for that."

Sheridan arrives at Home Park having been out of work since leaving the Spireites in September but Brent believes it was an easy choice to appoint the manager who led Chesterfield to promotion from this level just two years ago.

"John joins us after a very short process and with huge vigor and drive and is already making quite a difference around the club," he said.

The 23-year-old new signing is likely to be in the squad to take on arch-rivals Manchester United on Sunday, where the Reds are certain to face a hostile welcome.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side overtook their north-west rivals' tally of 18 league titles with their Premier League championship in 2010/11, but Sturridge believes his new team are not inferior to anyone in England.

"It is the biggest club I have ever played for," said the former Chelsea forward, who described the Reds as one of the biggest in the world when he signed last week.

"In the Premier League, there is no bigger club than Liverpool."

Sturridge, who almost moved to Anfield in the summer but manager Brendan Rodgers wanted more time to evaluate the player before committing to a permanent deal, scored just seven minutes into his debut in the FA Cup at Mansfield.

That has eased the pressure somewhat on the January signing and he hopes to continue paying back Rodgers for bringing him to Anfield, having failed to establish himself at Chelsea and Manchester City before that.

"I thank the boss for giving me an opportunity to play for a club like this and I thank God for making it possible," he told the Liverpool Echo.

"As a young player, when you play for big clubs you can sometimes get caught up in it and you never get another opportunity to play for another big club.

"It's amazing for the manager to put such faith in me. The only way I can repay him is by doing a job on the football field.

"For him to pay money for me and to have faith in me and show everybody around the world that he is prepared to take a chance on me, I don't think I'll ever be able to repay him for that.

"So I'm grateful the manager has given me this chance and that he believes in me. I'm just glad to be here."

share