Berisha had to be replaced after less than half an hour of Victory’s 3-1 win away to the Jets due to stomach cramps.

The Albanian had earlier opened the scoring but felt a “strange abdominal pain” throughout his time on the pitch and opted to take himself off.

Victory cleared Berisha of any injury after the game but medical staff haven’t been able to explain why the stomach cramps occurred.

“Maybe I ate something wrong or there was something in my training, I don’t know. It’s very strange,” Berisha told FourFourTwo.

“It’s settled down quickly. The next day I didn’t feel it anymore.

“I could probably have stayed on and played at 50 per cent but this isn’t the point.

“You want players out there who work really hard and I couldn’t do that.”

Berisha will play in Victory’s pre-season clash with Port Melbourne Sharks on Tuesday night at JL Murphy Reserve.

The friendly comes after a busy schedule for Victory where they play three games in 11 days, including matches against Juventus and Atletico Madrid in the International Champions Cup.

“I’ll play again on Tuesday so hopefully it doesn’t happen again,” Berisha said.

“We’ve been pushed really hard in the pre-season especially in the beginning to get fit for those big games.

“It was a very busy schedule.”

New signing James Troisi trained with his new team-mates for the first time at Gosch’s Paddock on Monday and Berisha said the Socceroo was a chance to line up against the Sharks.

The Albanian added that Victory were delighted to progressed in the FFA Cup as holders ahead of the Round of 16 draw on Thursday.

“This cup is very interesting because everybody is in, the local State League teams and A-League teams, so it’s unpredictable where everybody has a chance to win,” Berisha said.

“It’s really tough. It’s like this in every country. We’re all very happy to get through because it was very hard conditions in Newcastle.

“Newcastle is doing well with their young players in the team but the conditions were really difficult, rainy and windy.

“Overall I thought Melbourne did a great job and we also had some young players, so it was an important win for us.”