Milner: Sturridge like Aguero, but a ‘better trainer’

Matthew Briggs

Tuesday night’s England skipper James Milner has likened Daniel Sturridge to Sergio Aguero, but claims the former is a “better trainer”.

Liverpool midfielder Milner will lead England out at Wembley against Holland tonight as he aims to nail down a place in Roly Hodgson’s Euro 2016 squad.

Reds team-mate Sturridge will also start against the Dutch – his first England action for 18 months – and Milner is convinced the former Man City and Chelsea striker is as good as ever despite his recent injury problems.

“When you’ve been out for such a long time, I think the one thing you probably see is how quickly it takes someone to get back up to speed,” Milner said.

“It might take weeks, it might takes months. For him, it seems to take a warm-up and then he’s straight out there, chopping right and left, beating players. His touch is there and his ability in front of goal.

“There’s absolutely no change at all. As he’s older and the experiences he’s gone through with the injuries, it has probably made him mentally stronger and a bit more hungry.”

Sturridge’s desire has in the past been questioned by some, but Milner seemingly extinguished such accusations.

“He’s probably a better trainer than Aguero,” he said of his former Manchester City team-mate.

“How Sergio does that sometimes I don’t know. On a Thursday and Friday he’s trotting about and then turns it on at the weekend.

“But Studge is sharp in training, he can go both ways and score goals. Now obviously he just wants to stay fit, get as many games under his belt and keep scoring goals.

“He’s similar (to Sergio). We’re lucky to have him in the squad. Those sorts of players – there’s not too many of them about, who can create something out of nothing.”