DANIEL STURRIDGE

I feel like, in football, you always have to prove yourself as well. The past is in the past. Last season was last season.

My mum, she loves a bargain hunt. You can't buy her anything expensive. I remember I bought her a diamond bracelet for her birthday. I was being a nice son! She told me to take it back.

My family prayed a lot, but we didn't really go to church. On Sunday, my mum and dad used to always tell me to read the Bible. That was important for me growing up, and I still do that every morning. It's something that is part of my routine, and I do it every day, whether it's a normal game or a big one.

At Chelsea, there's more focus on team shape, a lot of work on tactics.

I'd be the best player on the day because I believe in myself and my abilities.

It's difficult, the synergy between Drake and our generation - my generation, anyway - in the sense that his music is vulnerable, he's very open, and you can connect to it. Like 'Started From The Bottom,' for instance. Not many people would have thought about that, even though it is a simple song.

I'm a very humble and normal person, and I just go out there and do the job the best that I can do it.

I have total faith in my abilities, total faith in what I can do on the pitch, and I just have to focus on that, on my game, and help the team be successful, and I have no worries.

I can only show these people what I'm capable of when God allows me to be on the pitch.

When Liverpool came in, it was one of those situations that I just wanted to get up the M6 as quick as possible, sign on the dotted line, and get to work.

I grew up in Hockley, Birmingham. It was an environment I'll never forget in terms of playing football on local pitches, kicking a ball around in the front garden and all over the house. It was a positive place to live, and somewhere, that gave me the right grounding for where I am today.

For me, personally, I think the serious gamers - the guys who know the levels - play Xbox, and people who are just good at the game play PS3. I play PS3 because I'm not a serious, serious gamer like that. But when I play the Xbox, the standard is so much higher.

People will want to say this or that about you, but take it with a pinch of salt.

Grooming in football is quite big. I'm somebody that brings my Boss Bottled Unlimited to training or in my washbag, and I've put a few of my teammates onto that.

If I score a goal in training, it feels great. But in a stadium, especially Anfield, or even when you score away and the fans are silent, it's just amazing. You are just in the moment. There are times when I've scored, and I can't even remember what happened. It's so good.

A lot of players are straight-faced and serious; some are the opposite. It's like that until about 10 minutes before kick-off and I am in the zone. Then there is no more joking about.

Inzaghi was one that I really liked to watch because he was completely different to how I played, but he gave me something I didn't have and actually helped me out a lot. Probably a lot of the goals I score now have come from him.

Things have evolved, and footballers pay a lot more attention to how they dress and how they groom themselves because of social media. So they'll be on Instagram or Twitter, and I think it's one of those things - you're in the public eye more, probably, than playing football on television, and your lifestyle at home is broadcast.

When you're on the inside, there's no other perspective but what you see on the inside. When you're on the outside, you get to look at things a little differently: how you can help, how you can fit in, how you can do certain things differently.

Some players respond to shouting; some don't. Everyone is different, and that is one of a manager's strengths to understand that some don't respond to that.

My dad was a professional footballer before I was alive. When I was growing up, he was the one who coached and mentored me and helped me to become what I am today. Without his coaching and without his insight and the days and the hours that he put in with me, I wouldn't be the player that I am today.

I do believe a haircut makes you play better - I've experienced that before. I think it's confidence, it's routine, and it can also be superstition. Just like if you do your hair, it's not quite done right, and you have a bad day, you're not going to do that again the next day.

I don't really like to pay attention too much to what is being said about me, only because the people closest to me - my parents, family, and friends - know me best. So I feel like their opinions mean more to me than anyone else's.

It's not easy anywhere in the world for a young player to get opportunities at a big club.

My parents were very protective of me. Hockley had some crime, so my mum didn't want me out there, and my dad was the same. I would have to be in at a certain time, as there was a lot of violence surrounding our area.