Former Liverpool star Daniel Sturridge will make his first start in more than two years when he lines up for Perth Glory in Saturday night’s A-League Men clash with Western Sydney.
Sturridge’s stint at Glory has been a failure, with the ex-England international playing a grand total of 93 minutes across five cameos off the bench during an injury-plagued and scoreless campaign.
The 32-year-old hasn’t featured since tearing his groin in the 1-0 loss to Macarthur FC on February 23.
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But Glory interim coach Ruben Zadkovich has confirmed that Sturridge will be thrust straight into the starting XI against the Wanderers at HBF Park on Saturday night.
It will mark Sturridge’s first start in a match since featuring for Turkish club Trabzonspor in a 2-2 draw away at Besiktas on February 22, 2020.
“He’ll start,” Zadkovich said.
“He’s worked hard for a long period now to try to get himself into a position to play again.
“He’s obviously going to be underdone. But I thought just the quality of the person and the player … the fans would love to see him go out there and start the game.
“We don’t have much riding on the game. We’ve got nothing to lose.
“So it’s an occasion where we can make it nice and positive – Bruno (Fornaroli) and Sturridge up front and let the boys express themselves.”
Zadkovich is unsure how many minutes Sturridge will be on for, saying he will play it by ear.
Fornaroli will also start after recovering from the ankle injury he suffered while on Socceroos duties.
And veteran Andy Keogh will come off the bench late in the match in what will be his 156th and final A-League appearance.
Keogh has struggled with injuries all season, but Zadkovich wants the 35-year-old to receive the send-off he deserves.
“He’s quite underdone,” Zadkovich said of Keogh, who will be aiming to end a 14-game goal drought.
“His body is hanging on by a thread at the moment, so we just want to put him out there and let him have his moment, and experience what it’s like under the stadium lights one last time before he goes into his next role.
“We’ll make sure it’s special for him and I’m sure the fans want to thank him for his service for the club.
“He’s the fabric of the club, so we want to farewell him in the right fashion.”
Glory are guaranteed to finish with the wooden spoon after notching just three wins and five draws from 24 matches.
The Wanderers are in 10th spot and will miss the finals for a fifth straight season.