The City teenager, who broke through from the Academy last season and has long been heralded as a star of the future, has a hip problem.
Blues officials today confirmed that Sturridge has an injury but added that it was still being assessed and that it wasn't known for how long the youngster would be missing.
It seems sure that Sturridge, in whom Chelsea were once reportedly interested, will now miss out on the tour to Sweden.
If he is out for any length of time it may give fellow Platt Lane graduates Kelvin Etuhu and Ched Evans the opportunity to leap over him on the ladder leading to the first team.
Sturridge, who hails from a famous football family - his two uncles Dean and Simon were prominent stars in the 1980s - moved to City from Coventry in 2003.
He came to national prominence thanks to a spectacular goal in the second leg of the FA Youth Cup final against Liverpool in April 2006.
The 17-year-old was named on the bench for February's Premiership visit of Reading and made his debut in the match as a 74th-minute replacement for Georgios Samaras but his only other first-team appearance last season came a month later as a substitute against Wigan when he was on the pitch for four minutes.
Sturridge was hoping to make giant strides this season towards fulfilling his first-team ambitions but they are now on hold until he is back to full fitness.
There are no worries on that score for skipper Richard Dunne who has admitted that after a week of double training sessions, he cannot wait to see some action.
"By the time we play Doncaster, we'll have had 10 days of hard pre-season training, he said after plenty of hard running and gym sessions,'' he said.
"I think everyone is really looking forward to Saturday, to get the games under way and being able to play football again.
"Then it is off to Sweden for the two games. I think it's a good thing for everyone to get away, especially with a lot of new staff members."
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gwats0n, sheffield (12/07/2007 at 11:49)