Glory striker Branko Jelic will be restored to the starting line-up for the club’s Friday night clash against Adelaide United at ME Bank Stadium, the Serbian marksman on target four times this season to lead all scorers for Perth.
Glory striker Branko Jelic will be restored to the starting line-up for the club-s Friday night clash against Adelaide United at ME Bank Stadium, the Serbian marksman on target four times this season to lead all scorers for Perth.
Jelic made an appearance as a second half substitute last weekend after suffering a bout of the flu but will be back in action from the opening whistle against the Reds.
“Branko has done well this season and has been looking sharp at training this week,” Mitchell said.
“He loves scoring goals and has developed a good understanding with the other guys. Hopefully he-ll again prove to be a handful this week against Adelaide.”
Perth Glory defender Chris Coyne will lead the club in the absence of regular skipper Jacob Burns who will miss the match after accumulating five yellow cards this season. Coyne previously captained Luton Town and Colchester United in the UK and has continued to show a strong leadership presence since his return to Western Australia this season.
“Perth is my home town team so to get the opportunity to lead them out will be a tremendous honour,” Coyne said.
“The fact that Jamie (Coyne) has also worn the armband means it will be special family moment as well.”
Perth is undefeated in four matches at home this season, however after being held to frustrating stalemates in their past two outings, Coyne said the players are determined to secure the three points come Friday night.
“We-ve dropped points in our last couple of games at home which has been disappointing so we-re all pumped and raring to go for a big game,” Coyne said.
“You can-t go the whole season where everything just clicks but there are a few areas that we have identified and worked on this week in training and we-ll bring it together on Friday night.
“It was fantastic to have such a great crowd last week, you can really feel it out there and it gives you a lift. We-re accumulating more and more fans and now it is up to us to play good football and win games to keep bringing them back,” said Coyne.
Mitchell remained tight lipped about how he would cover for the loss of Burns in midfield but indicated he had number of options in his kit bag. Versatile left sided player Todd Howarth returns to the squad while Jamie Coyne could move into the middle of the park, a position he filled for much of last season.
Clashes between Perth and Adelaide have traditionally been tight with a solitary goal separating the two teams in each of their past five encounters. While the Reds are coming off a short turnaround, having played on Monday, Mitchell expects the South Australian-s to be at the top of their game.
“Adelaide are very well organised side, they-ve proven themselves here and in Asia so it will be a tough game. They-ve had the wood over us and we have to go out there and make sure we get the result,” said Mitchell.
“They-ve had experience preparing for games that are only days apart and are probably one of the best sides in the league to be able to combat that.
“I don-t expect that it will have any effect on their performance on Friday night and we-re preparing to tackle an Adelaide side at their best,” Mitchell said.
Hyundai A-League 2009/10 – Rd 10
Perth Glory v Adelaide United
Friday, 9 October 2009 at ME Bank Stadium, Perth
Local kick-off: 7.00pm (10.00pm AEST)
Referee: Chris Beath
Club radio broadcast partner 6PR 882AM – www.6pr.com.au – click here to listen.
To purchase tickets visit www.ticketmaster.com.au – click here.
TV broadcast on Fox Sports 1 and Sky Sport 2.
Perth Glory Squad: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 3.Jamie COYNE, 4.Andy TODD, 6.Chris COYNE, 8.Victor SIKORA, 10.Wayne SRHOJ, 11.Branko JELIC, 12.Scott NEVILLE, 14.Eugene DADI, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO, 17.Todd HOWARTH, 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI, 20.Aleks VRTESKI (gk), 21.Mile STERJOVSKI, 23.Andrija JUKIC
In: Todd HOWARTH (promoted)
Out: Jacob BURNS (suspended – accumulation of yellow cards)
Unavailable: Jimmy DOWNEY (knee – 4 weeks), Jamie HARNWELL (knee – 7 weeks), Anthony SKORICH (foot – 2 weeks), AMARAL (thigh – 1 week)
Adelaide United Squad: 1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 2.Robert CORNTHWAITE, 3.ALEMAO, 4.Iain FYFE, 5.Daniel MULLEN, 6.CASSIO, 7.Lucas PANTELIS, 8.Kristian SARKIES, 9.CRISTIANO, 10.Adam HUGHES, 11.Lloyd OWUSU, 13.Travis DODD (c), 14.Scott JAMIESON, 16.Inseob SHIN, 18.Fabian BARBIERO, 19.Mathew LECKIE, 20.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 21.Mark RUDAN
* three to be omitted*
In: ALEMAO (promoted), Daniel MULLEN (returns from international duty), Fabian BARBIERO (returns from injury)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Paul REID (thigh/quad – 1 week), Michael MARRONE (knee – 1 week), Joe COSTA (knee – indefinite)
