Head Coach Bobby Despotovski is backing his charges to avenge their Round One defeat against Canberra United when they welcome the women in green to Dorrien Gardens on Friday (kick-off at 7.15pm, tickets HERE).
Glory are still searching for their first points of the campaign having followed that Canberra defeat by also going down to Sydney FC and most recently, Newcastle Jets.
But Despotovski does not feel that they are too far away from turning their fortunes around.
“The focus in training this week has been to eliminate the mistakes that we made in the last game,” he said.
“So we’ve been working very hard on transition when we lose the ball knowing that Canberra have three or four very good forward players.
“We have to be very aware of how quickly they can transition from defending to going forward.
“If we can eliminate those mistakes, I’m confident that we can get a positive result on Friday.”
Last weekend’s home clash with the Jets was notable for a stunning debut goal from Celia and a strong midfield showing from Morgan Andrews.
And Despotovski feels that the Spaniard and the American, along with fellow-imports Crystal Thomas and Ari Romero, will have a key role to play in helping Glory get the better of Canberra on Friday evening.
“We played against Canberra in Round 1 without any of our internationals and lost that game 2-0,” he said.
“But even in that game, after starting very slowly, we settled into it after 25 minutes and played well at times.
“With the four internationals now fully fit to play, I’m looking for a much-improved performance on that first game against Canberra.
“Celia scored a good goal last week and Morgan was involved with everything.
“All the players are still upbeat and there isn’t anything not to be upbeat about.
“Yes, results have not gone our way, but that’s not to say that we won’t go and give everything to win on Friday.”
Heather Garriock’s Canberra side have won only once since their opening-round defeat of Glory, away at Newcastle Jets and have suffered two home defeats to Melbourne City and Brisbane Roar.
Their overall record against Glory is an impressive one, with 13 of the 20 previous meetings between the two clubs going the way of the team from the ACT outfit, but they were beaten 1-0 at Dorrien Gardens last term and in 2018, earned a point via a dramatic 4-4 draw at Bunbury’s Hay Park.
Match Details
Friday, 13 December 2019
Perth Glory v Canberra United
Dorrien Gardens, Perth
Kick-Off: 7:15pm (Local)( 10:15pm (AEDT))
Referee: Georgia Ghirardello
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Southern
Assistant Referee 2: Adrien Liechti
Fourth Official: Shane Skinner
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #PERvCBR
Perth Glory squad:1.Eliza CAMPBELL (gk), 2.Sarah CARROLL, 3.Kim CARROLL, 4.Ayesha NORRIE, 5.Shannon MAY, 6.Arianna ROMERO, 7.CELIA, 8.Morgan ANDREWS, 9.Crystal THOMAS, 10.Julia SARDO, 11.Leticia MCKENNA, 12.Jenna ONIONS, 14.Caitlin DOEGLAS, 19.Hana LOWRY, 21.Morgan AQUINO (gk), 24.Natasha RIGBY (c), 28.Katarina JUKIC
** two to be omitted**
Ins: 2.Sarah CARROLL (returns from injury), 3.Kim CARROLL (returns from injury),
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
Canberra United squad: 1.Annalee GROVE (gk), 2.Laura HUGHES, 3.Kaleigh KURTZ, 4. Jessie RASSCHAERT 5.Nikola ORGILL (c), 6.Emma STANBURY, 7.Simone CHARLEY, 8.Olivia PRICE, 9.Katie STENGEL, 10.Camila PEREIRA, 11.Elise THORSNES, 12.Hayley TAYLOR-YOUNG, 16.Karly ROESTBAKKEN, 17. Patricia CHARALAMBOUS, 19.Leena KHAMIS, 20.Shamiran KHAMIS (gk),
**one to be omitted**
Ins: 2. Laura HUGHES (promoted), 4. Jessie RASSCHAERT (promoted), 12.Hayley TAYLOR-YOUNG (promoted),17. Patricia CHARALAMBOUS (promoted)
Outs: 15. Ashlie CROFTS (not selected), 18. Taren KING (not selected), 21.Rebekah HORSEY (not selected).
Unavailable: Nil
#OneGlory
