DANIEL Sturridge insists he has nothing to fear on his return to Chelsea next season – thanks to Wanderers.

The striker has been a revelation since joining Bolton on loan after hitting four goals in his first six games.

And he was back on the goal trail for England-U21s in midweek, scoring in a man-of-the-match display in the 4-0 victory in Denmark on Thursday.

It was Sturridge who forced through his temporary move to the Reebok after initially being told he could not go out on loan by the Londoners.

Fernando Torres’ £50million arrival from Liverpool convinced Sturridge, who was already behind Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou in Carlo Ancelotti’s pecking order, that he needed first-team football after being restricted to just 10 starts since his £5million move from Manchester City in July 2009.

The highly-rated hitman’s persistence paid off with Chelsea finally agreeing to allow him to leave – and his success at Wanderers has convinced him he can be a regular at Stamford Bridge next season.

“When I do go back to Chelsea I’m not going to be worrying about anyone who is at the club,” he said.

“I really don’t think Torres coming in affects me. Didier [Drogba] and Nico [Anelka] are fantastic players too and I can’t wait to get back because I’ll be able to show everyone what I can do.

“Football is about being in competition with all of these great players and showing what you can do amongst them. I want to show Chelsea that I can play at this level week after week and I can handle it.

“Bolton are giving me the opportunity and the stage to show what I can do and I’m loving playing under Owen Coyle.

“I was the one that initiated the loan because I wanted to play regularly but the club weren’t willing to let me go on loan. They said I wasn’t allowed to but I had to kind of force the issue.”

Sturridge will be back in U21 action in a friendly against Iceland at Preston on Monday as Stuart Pearce’s side continue their preparations for this summer’s European Championships in Denmark, but Fabrice Muamba, who also played in Viborg, has been given a few days off before reporting back for duty with Wanderers on Monday.