Jurgen Klopp defends decision to keep Daniel Sturridge on Liverpool bench

Sturridge was an unused substitute in 1-0 Villarreal defeat

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Jurgen Klopp has defended the decision to leave Daniel Sturridge on the bench during Liverpool's Europa League semi-final defeat on Thursday night.

The England striker was not used by Klopp at the Madrigal as Villarreal scored an injury-time winner to take a narrow lead back to Anfield for the second leg next week.

The decision to ignore Sturridge prompted a strong reaction from Liverpool fans, who wanted to see the striker in the game having scored four in his last five matches.

But the former Borussia Dortmund boss said he had no regrets about his selection and would do it again.

"It is about finding a stability. With decisions like this it is always two questions," he said. Was it the right decision to choose this line-up? With a 1-0 defeat you cannot be sure it is 100 per cent right.

"The next question is: Would I do it again? Yes. Then it is finished and I don't have to think about it again. That is my life - making decisions and in the end accepting the result.

"With Daniel in particular it is not about how it is always, it was a decision for this line-up. That is very important. It was not against Daniel. My job is not to do what you the media want, what the player wants, it is to try to help the player and help the team in this moment.

"I always try to do my best and because I am not perfect maybe it sometimes does not work. But next time I will try it again."

The 26-year-old is likely to return to the team for Sunday's trip to Swansea and Klopp has no doubts the striker will be at the top of his game.

"The mentality of Daniel is really good, very confident, because he has all these qualities and he knows about these qualities," added the German.

"Daniel came back from injury and now he is fit for the longest period [for a long time]. That is very important.

"We could have let him play in the first few weeks, hoping he could do something special, but that would not have been the right decision for him because then he would have been injured again.

"It does not work. The Premier League, Europa League, everything is too intense.

"It is about balance absolutely always. I've said a few times that I always think more about the strengths of a player than the weaknesses."

Additional reporting from PA