Dan's the man this season for Chelsea

DANIEL STURRIDGE has had the best start to a season in his career, having already scored nine goals, but the Chelsea and England striker wants more.

Former Manchester City forward Sturridge, 22, has been the major plus for Chelsea and manager Andre Villas-Boas in a topsy-turvy opening half of the season. He has been a revelation with his pace, skill and finishing.

Daniel Sturridge: The Man with a mission

The loan spell at Bolton for the later half of the last season had worked wonders for his confidence and as a striker, you know you are in top form when you are finding the back of the net constantly. So far this season, Sturridge has scored as many goals as Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres put together and it is no exaggeration to say that, without him, the Villas-Boas revolution would have been considerably more difficult.

More significantly for his country, he is England’s most in-form player. Sturridge’s 17 goals this calendar year make him one of the more prolific English strikers around – only Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney has scored more. It is a record that, right now, looks likely to propel him above Theo Walcott, Aaron Lennon and Adam Johnson – his rivals for a place on the right-hand side of the England attack.

Whether he plays on the right or in the middle, he needs to be featuring for England early next year right through until the summer. But not on the left. His strongest foot is his left, yes, but he is not an out and out winger who gets to the byline and crosses the ball. He drifts in and out to deadly affect. He can take on the full back but he can also slip into that goal-poaching mode. Something we haven’t really had. Theo Walcott threatened to do it but hasn’t really lived up to that potential.

Thursday night at Spurs was typical of the way Sturridge has affected Chelsea’s campaign. A goal down early on to an Emmanuel Adebayor strike, it was Sturridge who was in the right place to level the scores for his side and it was his speed and trickery down the right that were largely responsible for the fact that his team came closest to winning a tight, tense encounter.

Dan :- The Man in top form.

With how things are in the Premier League, nobody is going to be out of the race until the final ball is kicked in the last game.

Daniel Sturridge

But Sturridge, who earned his first full England cap as a substitute against Sweden in November, knows that this is a huge season for him, with the European Championships coming up this summer.

A big part of the turn in fortunes has been down to Sturridge but he couldn’t have done it without his team mates. They have pulled together, whereas last year it took a couple of months longer. Is it down to the manager? Who knows. The players are playing for him, the team and the fans.