Soccer: Fitness not flight the reason for absence, says Sturridge

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Burnley v Liverpool - Turf Moor, Burnley, Britain - December 5, 2018 Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge looks on. REUTERS/Scott Heppell

(Reuters) - Perth Glory forward Daniel Sturridge said his absence from Friday's game against Western United was due to a lack of fitness and not, as owner Tony Sage had suggested, the effects of a cross-country flight to Melbourne.

Sage told SEN radio that the ex-England striker, who joined Perth in October and is still to make his first A-League start, had told coach Richard Garcia he could not play in the match soon after the team's arrival.