Some players never quite live up to their potential and it's often because injuries get in their way.

Many people consider Ronaldo one of the greatest strikers to ever play the game, but imagine how good he would have been without two knee surgeries?

English football has their fair share of heartache stories too, and injuries seem to be the main protagonist.

Michael Owen and his dodgy hamstrings are quite a famous example, but Kieron Dyer is certainly one of the most famous.

Despite having blistering pace and being one of the most exciting wingers England had seen in decades, the former Ipswich man failed to live up to the hype and his career fizzled out amid a series of injuries.

Dyer still managed to collect 33 England caps - making tournament squads for World Cup 2002 and Euro 2004 - and 245 Premier League appearances, but he is more commonly remembered for the games he missed more than anything else.

Another man who could fall into that category is Daniel Sturridge. The Liverpool forward is on-loan at West Brom trying to get his career back on track - still only 28 - but was forced off through injury after just three minutes against old club Chelsea earlier this month.

One would think Dyer would refrain from commenting on Sturridge's fitness issues, but the former Newcastle midfielder claims that if he was Sturridge, he would have tried staying on until half-time.

He said: "When I called Daniel Sturridge come off after three minutes, I felt for him - but I couldn't have done that.

"I was so embarrassed every time I got injured I would try to get to half-time or full-time because the familiar sounds of the grounds when you number comes up are tortuous."

While you can understand what Dyer is saying, that's hardly good advice either. The whole episode was very embarrassing for Sturridge and no wonder Dyer feels for him, but making it worse wouldn't help anybody.

In his new book, 'Old too soon, smart too late', Dyer also admits he failed to live up to his potential by "living like a celebrity rather than a footballer" - but there are no doubt injuries played their part too.