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28th November 2021
11:27am GMT
“Richie [Richard Garcia] said it in the post-match, he’s not used to a four-hour flight to a game. He’s just not used to it.”
The Perth owner then went on to reveal that Sturridge has been suffering from cramps due to the long haul flight and that the 32-year-old had been struggling to acclimatise to flying long distances for games.
“He pulled up on the plane a little bit crampy, when they did their walk and that he didn’t feel comfortable when they did the team walk,” Sage said.
“So, he went up to Richie and said, ‘Look, I might not be ready this week’.”
Sturridge has only featured once for Perth so far and Sage feels that the upcoming month is an opportunity to build up his fitness and allow him to play more regularly from January onwards.
He said: “He’s got a full week of training now in Melbourne with the squad, no distractions and I think you’ll see he’ll get at least 10-15 minutes next week building up.
“I think you’ll see him start by the time he gets back here (to Perth).”
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