Daniel Sturridge insists he can be a 20-goal-a-season striker for Chelsea but only if Roberto Di Matteo starts him consistently.
The England international has been confined to the sidelines for the majority of the campaign with 11 of his 12 appearances coming from the bench.
His only start was in the 5-4 Capital One Cup victory over Manchester United in which he scored during extra time.
Sturridge was a regular during Andre Villas-Boas’ short tenure last term, scoring 13 times in all competitions, but has fallen out of favour under Di Matteo since he took over at Stamford Bridge earlier this year.
However, despite having to settle for cameos from the bench, the 23-year-old still believes he would find the net on a regular basis should the Blues boss ever opt to field him down the middle ahead of first-choice striker Fernando Torres.
“I’d hope so. It’s always difficult to say I’d score 20 goals a season,” Sturridge told reporters.
“But if any player’s given a regular run then you’d hope that if they’re playing at a top club and given opportunities to score goals they’d be able to do that.
“I do believe I’m a centre-forward, I do believe I’d be able to help the team win games. Whether I can do that by scoring goals, making assists, just being there, being a physical presence – whatever I can do to help the team win I’ll try and do that.”
