Perth Glory Coach Kenny Lowe says he and the team are determined to use home ground advantage and turn nib Stadium into a fortress.
Perth host seventh-placed Newcastle on Saturday night and Lowe didin’t hold any punches as to where the focus lied.
“Biggest priority is a result end of story,”
”Performance and win, that’s the big priority and always will be, every single game.”
“Every single home game we want to win and if you look at our record at home, I don’t wanna tempt fate but we’re decent at home, but any home game we wanna win.”
In fact, Glory has won its last eight matches against the Jets and is undefeated in the last 14 against the Hunter Valley outfit.
Lowe however said the the group was yet to hit full flight.
“There’s a lot of potential, if you look within the group at who’s hitting their straps, there’s more to come from a lot of people and they believe that.”
Joseph Mills and Socceroo Josh Risdon have been named in this week’s squad and could be available for selection after recovering well from their recent injries.
Teenager Brandon Wilson, who made the A-league team of the week following his goal line saving heroics against Victory, is also proving to cause Lowe selection grief.
“The kid’s done really well and he’s just a super kid, he’s put his hand up, sacrificed for the team but ultimately you’ve gotta pick a side that you think on the day is gonna win the game,” Lowe said.
“A fit Rizzo (Risdon), he’s better then anyone in the league so sometimes you’ve gotta make the tough decisions.”
Glory will be aiming for its fourth win of the season, in a bid to climb higher up the ladder.
The match will be marked by the attendance of popular former coach Bernd, who wil be taking part in a range of pre-match and post-match activities, and there’ll also be a special tribute to the recent inductees of the WA Football Hall of Fame.
Kick-off is at 7pm and tickets can be purchased HERE
Glory Facts and Stats
- Perth Glory is undefeated in its last 14 games against Newcastle Jets in the A-League (W12, D2), including a current streak of eight straight wins. The last time Newcastle won an iteration of this fixture was in November 2011.
- Perth Glory is undefeated in its last 10 games on home soil (W7, D3), scoring an average of three goals per game across that span.
- Perth Glory has scored 10 goals in its four home games so far, only Melbourne Victory (13 goals in five home games) have scored more home goals this campaign.
- No player has made more blocks than Perth Glory’s Alex Grant (9) so far this season, while the most by a Newcastle Jets player is three (Jackson, Fyfe, Boogaard, Koutroumbis).
- Perth has scored a league high four headed goals so far this season whilst Newcastle have conceded a league high three.
- Perth Glory (52.3%) has the highest duels won out of any team this term
- Nebo Marinkovic (23) has created the equal most chances of any player so far this season
- Chris Harold has won an extraordinary 30 fouls so far this season
- No Hyundai A-league player has made more clearances then Alex Grant (9) this term
- Perth Glory has scored 69% of their goals inside the box, whilst Newcastle have conceded 79% of their goals inside the same area
- Brandon Wilson (82.5%) has recorded a very impressive passing accuracy so far this term – the highest within the club
- Andy Keogh sits on top of the Hyundai A-league goal scoring charts with 7 goals alongside Melbourne City’s Bruno Fornaroli
Match Details
Saturday, 10 December 2016
Perth Glory v Newcastle Jets
nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-Off : 7:00PM (Local) (10:00PM (AEDT))
Referee: Daniel Elder
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Cream
Assistant Referee 2: Paul Cetrangolo
Fourth Official: Adam Fielding
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on Fox Sports 505 from 9.30pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 4 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast: 720 ABC Perth, 1233 ABC Newcastle, ABC Local Radio WA, Grandstand Digital, Online & via the ABC Radio Mobile App – A-league Live, EON Sports Radio (eonsportsradio.com)
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #PERvNEW
To purchase tickets visit www.aleague.com.au
Perth Glory squad: 3.Marc WARREN, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Rhys WILLIAMS, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 8.Rostyn GRIFFITHS (c), 9.Andy KEOGH, 10.Nebojsa MARINKOVIC, 13.Nicholas FEELY (gk), 14.Chris HAROLD, 15.Brandon WILSON, 16.Joe MILLS, 18.Mitch OXBORROW, 19.Josh RISDON, 21.Jamal REINERS, 22.Adam TAGGART, 23.Kosta PETRATOS, 24.Milan SMILJANIC, 33.Liam REDDY (gk)
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 5.Rhys WILLIAMS (returns from suspension), 19.Josh RISDON (returns from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 2.Alex GRANT (hamstring – 1 week) 7.Joel CHIANESE (groin – 1 week), 17.Diego CASTRO (hamstring – 4 weeks)
Newcastle Jets squad: 2.Daniel MULLEN, 3.Jason HOFFMAN, 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (c), 6.Steven UGARKOVIC, 7.Andrew HOOLE, 8.Mateo POLJAK, 10.Wayne BROWN, 11.Labinot HALITI, 13.Ivan VUJICA, 15.Andrew NABBOUT, 16.Nicholas COWBURN, 18.MA Leilei, 20.Jack DUNCAN (gk), 23.Devante CLUT, 24.Kristian BRYMORA, 28.John KOUTROUMBIS, 30.Pierce CLARK (gk)
**one to be omitted**
Ins: 2.Daniel MULLEN (returns from injury), 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (returns from injury), 15.Andrew NABBOUT (returns from injury), 24.Kristian BRYMORA (promoted)
Outs: 5.Ben KANTAROVSKI (knee – indefinite), 12.Andy BRENNAN (omitted), 26.Iain FYFE (injury replacement contract complete)
Unavailable: 1.Ben KENNEDY (gk) (achilles – season), 9.Aleksandr KOKKO (jaw – 2 weeks), 19.Morten NORDSTRAND (hip flexor – 1 week), 23.Daniel ALESSI (knee – season), 22.Lachlan JACKSON (ankle – 1-2 weeks)
