LIVERPOOL -- Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge will miss out on a comeback against former club Chelsea at Anfield because he is not yet fully fit, manager Brendan Rodgers says.
Sturridge returned to Merseyside on Jan. 9 to go through the final stages of rehabilitation after more than four months of injury problems.
The England forward had spent Christmas in the U.S. undergoing treatment on a thigh problem, his third injury of the season.
Sturridge, who hit 21 Premier League goals last season, has not played for Liverpool since the end of August, having suffered a thigh injury during an England training session on Sept. 5.
He then pulled up with a calf problem during a club practice session on Oct. 16, and a second thigh injury while training with the Reds on Nov. 18.
Liverpool have struggled for goals without him for much of the season, although they are unbeaten in eight matches in all competitions as they prepare to host Premier League leaders Chelsea in a Capital One Cup semifinal first leg on Tuesday.
Sturridge, who spent three-and-a-half years at Stamford Bridge before joining Liverpool for 12 million pounds in January 2013, is expected to return to action by the end of January, but Tuesday's match will be too soon for him.
Rodgers said: "Daniel's doing well. He's not ready to feature as of yet but he's working hard."
Sturridge's return will boost Liverpool's attack, with Rodgers ready to admit defeat in his attempt to cut short Divock Origi's loan at Lille.
The Belgium international signed from the Reds from the French Ligue 1 club last July in a deal worth 10 million pounds, but was loaned back immediately for the season.
Reports have been circulating for more than two months that Liverpool were prepared to pay a compensation fee of around three million pounds to Lille to terminate Origi's loan deal early.
Rodgers, having said in November that there was no chance of such move, suggested last Thursday that it was possible -- but told talkSPORT on Monday that it was now unlikely, and confirmed that at a news conference later in the day.
He said: "The likelihood is he's going to stay at Lille. There was a chat between the clubs, but nothing more than that. It was just really an update on where it was at."