STURR GENTLY
Pard to be canny with Danny to keep him fresh for fight
ALAN PARDEW will limit new signing Daniel Sturridge’s training schedule to get him fit and firing for West Brom... and England.
Pardew says the striker can build up his fitness in matches and won’t always have to train with the rest of the Albion squad. The Baggies boss is thrilled to have got Sturridge on loan for the rest of the season at the Premier League basement club.
Sturridge, 28, has started only five games for Liverpool this term and was desperate for first-team football with the World Cup just four months away.
Albion have scored only 19 goals in 25 Premier League games this term and Pardew feels keeping Sturridge on the pitch will be key to their survival hopes. And he thinks England boss Gareth Southgate, a pal from their Crystal Palace days, could reap the benefits in Russia this summer.
Pardew (right) said: “Daniel’s deal runs until the summer and we will be managing him maybe a bit more carefully.
“He is fresh because he hasn’t had a lot of game time so he could be that rarity for Gareth, a player who is fresh going to the World Cup. He won’t be pushed in training. We will slowly build his stamina over games.
“I think senior players will accept that only if there are special circumstances; this boy has missed training for a long period. We might do the same with James Morrison and Nacer Chadli when they come back so Daniel won’t be the only one.”
Sturridge made his Albion debut as a 78th-minute sub in Wednesday night’s 3-0 defeat at Premier League leaders Manchester City.
But the Birmingham-born forward, who snubbed Newcastle to join Baggies, is now pushing to start today’s crunch relegation battle at home to Southampton, with Pardew admitting the striker is fired up. The Albion boss added: “He knows he has a better chance here of starting games than at Liverpool. “Sometimes if you are only getting bit-parts in games it can be demoralising and your focus goes. “I think he is very much focused on his work and I have really enjoyed the moments I have had with him in terms of talking to him and getting to know him. “Already he showed a couple of flashes at City but we have seen more than that on the training ground. “I have already seen little flashes that have not just lifted me but everyone at the training ground because he can do things with the ball that are special. If we can see that on the pitch I think our fans are going to be very excited by him.”