Perth goalkeeper Danny Vukovic says all the pressure is on Central Coast for Saturday’s Hyundai A-League preliminary final and the Glory go in with nothing to lose.
Perth goalkeeper Danny Vukovic says all the pressure is on Central Coast for Saturday’s Hyundai A-League preliminary final and the Glory go in with nothing to lose.
After beating Melbourne Heart and Wellington in the first two rounds of the Final Series, Perth are just one win away from their first Grand Final appearance since the 2004 NSL decider.
Vukovic said they go into the biggest match in the club’s A-League history high on confidence and happy to accept the underdog tag.
The Premiers- Plate winners (the team that finishes the home and away season first) has made it through to the Grand Final in every year since Adelaide failed to qualify in the first season and Vukovic said Central Coast would be desperate to ensure they didn’t break that run after losing the major semi-final to Brisbane.
“It [the pressure] is all on them. They finished first after the regular season, they’re expected to be in the Grand Final and we’re going to go over there to try to ruin their party,” he said.
“To finish first and still not be in the Grand Final I think would hurt them a lot … so I think the pressure really isn’t on us this week.”
“In the last two games we played, we were expected to win but in this one the Mariners are expected to win so we can go over there with no pressure on our shoulders and without anything to lose.”
Vukovic said the match would carry extra significance for him given he played for Central Coast from 2005 until 2010.
The 27-year-old has never won an A-League game against his former club in Gosford but Vukovic said there was no reason the trip should intimidate the Glory.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a tough place [to play],” he said.
“The crowds that they get aren’t huge and they’re not a very vocal crowd. I played there and loved my time there but there’s a lot more daunting places to go to in the A-League.”
Although the Mariners were beaten 5-2 on aggregate by the Roar, who will host the Grand Final, Vukovic said he had been impressed by their display in the second leg.
“They showed great character and I thought they dominated the game,” he said.
“They did well and we’re going to have to be on top of our game to beat them on Saturday.”
“There’ll probably be few chances but when we get those chances we’ll need to take them. I think we need to be a little bit better in defence as well.”
