Brendan Rodgers is fully expectant that Daniel Sturridge will be included in England's 23-man squad for their coming double-header but has insisted he won't be fit enough to feature in two games over a four day period.

Sturridge helped hand the Liverpool manager some much-needed respite last Saturday, as they defeated Aston Villa for a first victory in over a month, firing an excellent second-half brace in a 3-2 win.

His explosive return is likely to put him in contention for Roy Hodgson's squad selection, which will be confirmed on Thursday afternoon ahead of fixtures at home to Estonia and away against Lithuania.

The two games conclude the Three Lions' Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, which has so far seen them take eight wins from eight and secure their passage to next summer's tournament in France.

But Sturridge has not featured for his country since September 2014, after an initial thigh injury suffered on international duty ravaged his season. 

The issue, which arose after Sturridge was denied his usual recovery regime, came just two days after an 89 minute appearance in England's 1-0 win over Norway.

Sturridge situation complicated by previous England injury issues

Liverpool supporters were left more and more frustrated as the injury led to further problems with his calf and thigh, leaving him on the sidelines until January.

Unfortunately for the 26-year-old, his return was blighted by a hip injury - which he underwent surgery on in May and has kept him out of action until recently, as Sturridge made his first appearance of the season in a 1-1 draw with Norwich City.

But having slowly worked his way back to fitness, Rodgers has insisted that he is not yet fit enough to feature in two games in quick succession - also confirming that he won't play a part in their Europa League clash against FC Sion this Thursday.

He explained that he "hasn't spoken" with England officials as of yet, adding that a player as injury prone as Sturridge has to be physically assessed and analysed.

Rodgers added that the prolific striker has "worked very, very hard" to return to the squad "ahead of schedule" and said the Premier League side must be wary of breaking him "at this stage."

He continued that Sturridge is "still building his way towards fitness" but as seen against Villa, he injects "real quality" to the Reds' squad in the final third.

The Reds boss stated that the striker "won't be involved" versus Sion in order to "keep him fresh" and allow him to "work towards his fitness" for a monumental fixture away at neighbours Everton at the weekend.

Rodgers has no qualms if Sturridge receives call up

Despite Sturridge's injury history links with international duty, Rodgers insisted that he would have no issues if Sturridge was selected by Hodgson given his recent progress.

The Northern Irishman acknowledged the England international as one of his country's "top strikers" and said he would "expect him to be chosen for the national team" if fit and firing.

He further stated that his own personal priorit is making sure he is fit and available for Liverpool, despite conceding that Sturridge isn't currently at a level to be featuring more than once a week.

Asked whether he would be capable of playing in both of England's games, Rodgers said "not at the moment" but declared that the physios are "intelligent enough" to know where he is at.

Though he's not yet spoken to England, Rodgers said he will "let them deal with" Sturridge themselves - insisting that they are "highly-qualified professionals" capable of determining whether the striker should be involved, if he is picked.

However, Rodgers did say that it is "probably worth" him speaking to the FA to ensure they "manage" the striker's situation accordingly.