Perth Glory confirm bizarre reason why ex-Liverpool star Daniel Sturridge missed game

Ex-Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is aiming to get his career back on track in the Australian A-League but he had to miss the latest game for Perth Glory

Daniel Sturridge's Perth Glory career has taken an unexpected twist after refusing to represent the Australian A-League side.

The former Liverpool striker joined Perth as a free agent at the end of September in a deal viewed as a major coup for raising the profile of the league.

Without a club since leaving Turkish side Trabzonspor in March 2020, Sturridge has been building up his match fitness ahead of a return to the game.

He made his debut for Perth on November 20, being deployed as a substitute late on against Adelaide United, but took the decision to withdraw himself from the club's away match against Western United on Friday.

A four-hour flight was required to travel to the match and it has been revealed by Perth Glory's owner, Tony Sage, that Sturridge told the first-team manager he would not be featuring due to struggling with the after-effects of the flight.

"Look, a lot of consultation goes ahead, and when I saw the team sheet I made the call to sound out why (Sturridge was left off),” Sage said on SEN .

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“After a talk between the two – the player and the coach – he didn’t feel he could contribute.

“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.”

Sage added that Sturridge had complained of 'feeling crampy' after getting off the plane, which ultimately ruled him out of the match.

“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," he said.

“So, he went up to Richie and said, ‘look, I might not be ready this week’.”

Sturridge is looking to get his career back on track in Australia, after what has been a testing couple of years.

He left Liverpool at the end of the 2018/19 season after six-and-a-half years at Anfield.