Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell will again look to the strength of the club’s youth when he selects his squad for Sunday’s clash against Newcastle after several of his regular starters have been ruled out through injury and international commitments.
Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell will again look to the strength of the club-s youth when he selects his squad for Sunday-s clash against Newcastle after several of his regular starters have been ruled out through injury and international commitments.
Mitchell and his coaching staff are set to make a series of moves across the pitch, most notably up front with leading scorers Eugene Dadi and Nikita Rukavytsya both unavailable. Two times Golden Boot winner Jamie Harnwell and tenacious Dutch midfielder Victor Sikora are two of the options Glory could deploy in attack this weekend.
Last minute goals have decided the outcome of both matches the sides have played this season and Mitchell is again expecting a tough tussle. Perth though will go into the match confident they have what it takes to win at the Jets home ground after notching four wins in five outings.
“Newcastle will want to put in a big performance at their home ground and show everyone they-re building for next year so it will be a difficult match from the point of who we-re playing and also because we-re missing our two leading scorers,” Mitchell said.
“The positive is that it gives us an opportunity to have a look at a few players with a view to next season and that will give everyone plenty of motivation to do well.”
Talented defender David Tarka returns to the squad and could be given a starting role after overcoming a niggling injury that curtailed his ability to play at full pace this season. Tarka is a proven big match performer but after managing just nine games in the past two seasons he will be keen to make this opportunity count.
“David needs to get some minutes on the pitch and we-ll give him as long as possible out there,” said Mitchell.
“It has been frustrating for David again this season with a quad injury keeping him out of action but we know his ability and we-re keen to give him every opportunity.”
Outstanding young defender Scott Neville will retain his role at right back following a stellar performance in his first start last weekend in the club-s 3-2 win against Melbourne. Fellow Glory Youth team mate Andrija Jukic is expected to see more match time after several substitute appearances while Hayden Doyle returns after playing his last Hyundai A-League match against the Jets in round two.
Doyle, 19, has developed his game with the Youth squad and was a standout in their last outing after being pushed into midfield.
“Hayden has continued to put in the hard work and has played well with the Youth Team. He hurt his ankle a couple of times which set him back a bit but he is a terrific lad and deserves to get another chance to see what he can do at the top level,” Mitchell said.
After seeing off their season at home with a terrific win last weekend the Glory are keen to improve their form on the road and are eyeing the last two matches away from home as the perfect platform from which to build that confidence into next season.
“There is no doubt we want to win the last few games of our season and put in a strong performance,” Mitchell said.
“While we-ll be looking at things for next season there is still a focus on getting as much out of this season as possible. Training has been as intense as always we-re going all out for the three points this weekend.”
Hyundai A-League Rd20
Newcastle Jets v Perth Glory
Sunday 18 January, EnergyAustralia Stadium
Local kick off 3.00pm AWDT
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Match Radio Broadcast on 6PR 882am – click here to listen
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 1 and Sky Sport 1
Perth Glory Squad: 30.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 1.Jason PETKOVIC (gk), 2.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 3.David TARKA, 4.Jamie COYNE (c), 5.Jamie HARNWELL, 7.Nick RIZZO, 9.Adrian TRINIDAD, 11.Scott BULLOCH, 15.Hayden DOYLE, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO, 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI, 22.Wayne SRHOJ, 28.Andrija JUKIC, 29.Victor SIKORA, 31.Scott NEVILLE.
*one to be omitted
In: 3.David TARKA (return from suspension), Hayden DOYLE (promoted), Adrian TRINIDAD (return from injury).
Out: 13.Nikita RUKAVYTSYA (trial in Holland), 14.Eugene DADI (on loan to FC Vaduz)
Unavailable: Josip MAGDIC (ankle – season), AMARAL (hamstring – season), James ROBINSON (abdomen – season), Frank JURIC (shoulder – test), Dino DJULBIC (trial in Germany), Hayden FOXE (leg – test), Mark LEE (foot – 1 week), Marc ANTHONY (hamstring – 2 weeks), Jimmy DOWNEY (stomach – 1 week)
Newcastle Jets Squad: 1. Ante COVIC (gk), 7. Kaz PATAFTA, 8. Matt THOMPSON, 9. Joel GRIFFITHS, 10. Jin-Hyung SONG, 11. Tarek ELRICH, 12. Jobe WHEELHOUSE, 13. Adam D-APUZZO, 16. Ben KANTAROVSKI, 17. Antun KOVACIC, 26. Mark MILLIGAN, 27. Jesse PINTO, 28. Jarrad ROSS, 30. Justin PASFIELD (gk), 32. Brodie MOOY, 33. Taylor REGAN.
*one to be omitted
In: 12. Jobe WHEELHOUSE, 33. Taylor Regan (promoted)
Out: 2. Adam Griffiths (suspended)
Unavailable: 15. Jason Hoffman (knee – season), 18. Noel Spencer (ankle – indefinite), 19. Jason Naidovski (knee – season), 20. Ben Kennedy (ankle – 6 weeks), 24. Marko JESIC (knee- season).
*Head-to-head: All matches (played 11): Newcastle Jets wins 2, Perth Glory wins 5 (4 draws). In Newcastle (played 5): Newcastle Jets wins 1, Perth Glory wins 4 (0 draws)
