DANIEL Sturridge is hoping to form a successful partnership with Mario Balotelli after the Italian scored just his second Liverpool goal against Swansea on Tuesday night.

Balotelli helped his side secure a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory in the Capital One Cup fourth-round tie at Anfield, notching their equaliser in the 86th minute - only seven minutes after his introduction as a substitute.

The goal will ease some of the pressure on the striker who had come under scrutiny after scoring just once in his first 11 games for the club since a £16million summer switch from AC Milan.

And Sturridge, who has not featured since September due to a calf injury but is nearing a return, cannot wait to work in tandem with his team-mate.

"We get on well off the field and in the changing rooms," he told talkSPORT. "We're always laughing and joking.

"It's not hugely important to be friends to have a great (football) relationship with somebody, and if you're not friends you can still have a great partnership, but you can also be friends and have a great partnership.

"Once I get back fit I'm hoping we can strike up a partnership.

"Last season with Luis (Suarez) we had a great relationship up front and scored a lot of goals. Hopefully this season it will be the same."

Balotelli developed a reputation as a larger than life character during his two-and-a-half year spell with Manchester City but Sturridge insists he is "misunderstood" and launched a robust defence of the 24-year-old.

"Mario has been under the microscope," he added. "That will always be the case when you play for a big club. You are going to have a lot of eyes on you.

"Mario's a great guy, and he's misunderstood sometimes. A lot of people are harsh on him. I get on really with him though. I have nothing but good words to say about him.

"He's working hard on the training field. People have told me he's working tirelessly to play the way we play.

"It's difficult moving to a new club and having new team-mates, it doesn't (always) just click straight away.

"Everybody is helping him and he's playing well. Sometimes you don't get the breaks in terms of scoring goals. Every striker goes through times when they don't score.

"A lot of stories have been put out about him in the past which aren't true. For him, it's difficult to shake off the celebrity (tag).

"He's a likeable person. I don't have any bad words to say about him. People don't realise what he's been through in his life to get where he is today."

In a hectic finale to the tie, Balotelli's goal was followed by a red card for Swansea defender Federico Fernandez in stoppage time - the latest in a series of refereeing decisions that has left the Welsh outfit's boss Garry Monk fuming - and then a 95th-minute headed winner from Dejan Lovren.

The visitors had earlier taken the lead in the 65th minute through a fine volleyed effort by Marvin Emnes.

The Dutch striker, who joined Swansea permanently over the summer after spending the second half of 2013-14 on loan with them from Middlesbrough, was making his first start of the season and netting his second goal of the campaign - the first having come in the previous round of the competition.

And Emnes is delighted to be making an impression.

"I was in the right place and I hit it right into the corner," the 26-year-old told www.swanseacity.net.

"It was a good goal and I'm delighted to have scored.

"Every time you have a chance to impress the manager you have to take it. That was my first chance of the night and I took it, which was very pleasing.

"But the game is 90 minutes long and everything changed within a few moments.

"They got their equaliser, then the red card is shown and they get a winner with virtually the last kick.

"We had worked so hard and to lose like that is very disappointing, particularly for our fans."