Perth Glory head coach Richard Garcia has played down any hopes of Daniel Sturridge bursting out of the blocks after the club’s extended break from Isuzu UTE A-League action, suggesting the club’s prized recruit is back to square one in his cautious return to play.
READ: Good news! Clubs return, revised fixtures announced
The club’s plan for Sturridge upon arrival in Australia relied on an incremental increase in game time, and that plan hasn’t changed; however the star Englishman’s ability to accrue those minutes has been significantly hindered by the extended break between fixtures for the Western Australian outfit.
Perth return to action on Wednesday night, facing Brisbane Roar at Moreton Daily stadium 42 days after losing 1-0 to Melbourne City on December 8, 2021.
Garcia says Sturridge is ready to feature for Perth on a regular basis, but expects to see the former Liverpool star coming off his bench as the cautious approach to building his match fitness essentially starts all over again.
“Daniel is travelling really well,” Garcia told the press on Monday morning. “He’ll definitely play some part in the game.
“It’s sort of back to where we were when he first arrived, so the plan hasn’t really changed from day one. He’s built really nicely over the last few weeks, and the more match practice he gets the better it will be from him.”
When asked to confirm whether to expect another brief cameo performance, like the nine minutes Sturridge mustered off Garcia’s bench in his one and only Perth appearance to date, Garcia said: “No, look, the plan was always to build him up in big chunks of the games. I still think he needs to get minutes off the bench, and bigger minutes as games go by.
“We feel, and he feels he’s in a better place to do that for bigger periods of the game.
With just four games played to date this season, Perth are four games behind Adelaide United (eight) who have played the most fixtures so far in 2021/22; a hectic fixture schedule will await the Glory on the road, and Garcia says it’s a huge asset to have an almost injury-free squad to rely on in the testing times ahead.
Midfield utility Luke Bodnar and former English Premier League goalkeeper Brad Jones are the only two Glory players currently unavailable through injury according to the Glory boss.
“It’s great to have the squad virtually injury free,” Garcia said.
“Everyone is going to be needed, because like we’ve already seen it’s going to be (a situation) where games are going to be thrown in, they’re going to get changed, so we’re going to have situations where we’re going to be asked to be backing up games in a short turnaround, so we’re going to need everybody in the squad.
“Brad Jones and Luke Bodnar, those two are probably not too far away. Luke is a bit further than Brad, Brad started a bit of handling and stuff like that but he probably needs a bit more time. We’ll probably see him closer to the time we come back.”
Garcia added: “The guys are dying to get back out there and do what they love to do. It’s been fantastic to have some time at home with family and regroup, but I think everyone’s itching to get back out there and play.”
