Asian Cup 2015: A-League ban could have helped Mark Milligan’s tournament preparations

MARK Milligan's three-week A-League suspension for elbowing Terry Antonis may have inadvertently helped his Asian Cup cause.

Socceroos train ahead of their Asian Cup opener at Olympic Park, Mark Milligan gets around Chris Herd. Melbourne. 4th January 2015. Picture: Colleen Petch.

MARK Milligan's A-League suspension may have inadvertently helped his Asian Cup cause.

The Melbourne Victory captain copped a three-week ban for striking Socceroos teammate Terry Antonis in the game against Sydney FC on December 13.

He missed games against Melbourne City (December 20) and Newcastle Jets (December 27) as a result, but was also able to complete a full training load with the Socceroos from the day their camp started in Melbourne on December 28.

Mark Milligan gets around Chris Herd at Socceroos training.

Milligan said after the Sydney game he "spent a couple of days getting a few niggles right", then another couple of days "getting a touch up" from Victory high performance boss Anthony Crea.

The midfielder said it was important that he was able to train fully with the Socceroos from the outset.

"I like to be able to get out on to the pitch as much as possible," Milligan said.

"I've been involved in every session since I came in and you like to be because you can take in more information.

"I missed that Japan camp (in November) as well and they did quite a lot of work there on the way that they were going to play and things like that so I needed as many sessions as I could to get up to speed I suppose."

Football Federation Australia football conditioner Dr Craig Duncan said Milligan's small rest, from a match perspective, "interacted positively" with his entry in to Socceroos camp.

"He probably would have been in a little bit later and he would have had that fatigue, so he would have missed out on those first couple of sessions," Duncan said.

"But (because he was suspended) he's been able to do those sessions, so that's how it's worked.

"We've got a pretty set system as far as when they fly in, this is what they've got to do. He was able to come in and straight away he's done every session."

Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: A-League ban could have helped Mark Milligan’s tournament preparations