Perth forward Daniel Sturridge says he’s no different to the rest of his Glory teammates, claiming they will all take time to get back to full fitness after ending a six-week hiatus from the A-League Men.
After being forced to quarantine in Queensland and Western Australia over the last month, Glory returned to the field in Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to Brisbane Roar.
Sturridge got 25 minutes off the bench and will come into contention for longer game time in Saturday’s clash with Sydney FC at Kogarah Oval before a game with Macarthur FC on Wednesday.
Sturridge, who hasn’t got through a full 90-minute performance in over two years, said the whole squad was likely to be subjected to rotation due to the lengthy period without a game.
“It’s about the coach (Richard Garcia) making the best decisions for the squad, it’s not about individuals,” he said.
“He has to manage the loads of the players including me because I don’t think there’s many other teams going through what we are going through in terms of schedule.
“Coming out of quarantine it’s going to put a lot of strain on everybody. I think everybody is in the same situation.
“We’re all building to the level prior to quarantine. Then to have a backlog of games is very difficult. I think there’ll be a lot of rotation due to fitness.”
The constraints placed on Perth, who haven’t played at home since the opening game of the season, were further complicated by the announcement of new border restrictions on Thursday.
The ex-Liverpool striker has spent just 10 days in WA and the new rules introduced by Premier Mark McGowan mean there is little hope of him returning there anytime soon.
But while he empathised, the former England international said there was no point the Glory feeling sorry for themselves.
“We’re focused solely on Sydney,” he said.
“We’re not really talking about the circumstances of what the future may hold. Once the game is out of the way we can have discussions about how it all feels.
“I don’t have a base in Perth so it doesn’t affect everyone else as much as me.
“These are the cards we have been dealt and we can’t get around any regulations. We’ve got to do the best we can as players to perform on the pitch.”
