He may have to sit out another match watching from the stands this weekend but Kenny Lowe is confident his players have the ethos and the quality to pick themselves up after last week’s disappointing loss as the team faces Western Sydney Wanderers at nib stadium on Sunday.
Glory went down 2-1 against rivals Brisbane Roar last week but the passionate manager is adamant they won’t stray from their usual arrangements.
“Just do the same things you always do,” said the Englishman.
“Prepare well, be organised, focused and just go about our business as we normally go about our business. Someone said the other day that we’ve won the most games in the A-League since I’ve been here so that’s quite impressive.”
Lowe reiterated last week’s sentiments when asked about whether his side was missing his input during the half-time change.
“We’ve done all our work during the week. If anything the best work was done at half time when they came back out a different team and did really well so I think you gotta praise Garce (Richard Garcia and Andy (Ord) for the work they did at half time to get everybody back on track. I think they own that thing in the game.”
“You gotta remember people have got to take responsibility for performance. That’s what they gotta do. You know you prepare them during the week but if you don’t execute the things that we’ve worked on or the things that we’ve highlighted then maybe we have to deliver it a different way to get the message across so that if we’ve delivered it correctly, then the players need to take responsibility for maybe the performance they’ve put in” he said.
“Such is life you know. They all love a pat on the back. Sometimes they deserve a kick up the arse.”
Perth is undefeated in their last eight games on home turf and will be looking to continue that form.
“It’s a super league this year. Everyone’s fairly close. The teams that maybe didn’t do so well last year have improved. The teams that have done well have also improved so it’s going to be a tough league. I said from day one that it will be a tough league and its turning out to be like that. You know everyone seems to be beating everybody.”
The Wanderers have endured a sluggish start to their Hyundai A-League campaign but have always provided a stern test for Perth, something that Lowe is aware of.
“One loss and maybe a couple of draws that maybe both games they should have won so they are gonna be starting a little bit. They’re gonna be up for it as they always are. Poppa will have them fired up. He’s not a shy boy; he doesn’t bring a team that doesn’t compete ever over here so it’s gonna be a tough game. Same as anyone, we gotta be on our mettle”.
Western Sydney has squandered leads in their last two home games and Lowe will be hoping for something similar on Sunday.
“I’d prefer them not to lead and then let a couple in through mistakes. That would be a good scenario” he joked
“Look, it’s going to be tough. They’re going to be fired up. You know they’ll want to win. We want to win. That’s the nature of the game. It’s going to be a toughie.”
The match kicks off at 4pm and is followed by the Perth Glory Women’s opening match of the W-League season immediately after at 6.30pm
You can purchase tickets for Sunday’s clash HERE
Hyundai A-League 2016/17 Round 5
Sunday, 6 November 2016
Perth Glory v Western Sydney Wanderers FC
nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-Off: 4:00PM (WST)
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referee 1: Josh Mannella
Assistant Referee 2: Matthew Southern
Fourth Official: Adam Fielding
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on Fox Sports 505 from 7.00pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 4 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast: Online & via the ABC Radio Mobile App – A-league Live, EON Sports Radio (eonsportsradio.com), Hawkesbury Radio
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #PERvWSW
Perth Glory FC Squad: 2.Alex GRANT, 3.Marc WARREN, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Rhys WILLIAMS, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 8.Rostyn GRIFFITHS (c), 9.Andy KEOGH, 10.Nebojsa MARINKOVIC, 13.Nicholas FEELY (gk), 14.Chris HAROLD, 15.Brandon WILSON, 16.Joe MILLS, 17.Diego CASTRO, 19.Josh RISDON, 22.Adam TAGGART, 24.Milan SMILJANIC, 33.Liam REDDY (gk)
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 4.Shane LOWRY (promoted), 22.Adam TAGGART (promoted)
Outs: 11.Richard GARCIA (not selected)
Unavailable: nil
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 1.Jerrad TYSON (gk), 2.Shannon COLE, 3.Jack CLISBY, 5.Brendan HAMILL, 6.Mitch NICHOLS, 7.Steve LUSTICA, 8.Dimas (c), 9.Kerem BULUT, 10.Nicolás MARTÍNEZ, 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 12.Scott NEVILLE, 13.Bruno PIÑATARES, 14.Jumpei KUSUKAMI, 15.Kearyn BACCUS, 17.Artiz BORDA, 18.Robbie CORNTHWAITE, 19.Jacob MELLING, 20.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk)
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 2.Shannon COLE (promoted), 9.Kerem BULUT (promoted), 13.Bruno PIÑATARES (promoted)
Outs: 23.Lachlan SCOTT (not selected)
Unavailable: Nil
Glory Facts and Stats
- Perth Glory is undefeated in its last eight games on home turf (W6, D2); they’ve not enjoyed a longer streak since a stretch of 10 games from 2009 to 2010 (W7, D3).
- Perth Glory (58%) are the only team so far this season to enjoy a shooting accuracy of greater than one-in-two.
- Perth Glory are undefeated this season when scoring first.
- Perth Glory have the best crossing accuaracy in the league with 32.7%.
- Perth Glory have the fourth best conversion rate in the league with 20.9% of chances being converted.
- Perth Glory are second in the league for duels won, winning 54.4% of them.
- Perth Glory are second in creating the most amount of big chances (13).
- Rhys Williams has a 100% success rate in all of his tackles so far this season. Marc Warren is next with 87.5%
- Dino Djulbic has the most clearances in the side (26).
- Only Josh Risdon, Dino Djulbic and Liam Reddy have played in every minute for Perth Glory this season.
- Alex Grant has the best percentage in duals won with 86.7%
- Andy Keogh boasts a 91% shooting accuracy, the best of any player who has had more than five attempts at goal.
- Andy Keogh sits equal second in the goal-scoring charts with 3 goals; One goal behind top spot.
- Diego Castro has created eight chances this season already. Chris Harold and Marc Warren are next in line with four apiece.
- Western Sydney Wanderes have conceded four goals between the 76th and 90th minute making that 50% of all their goals conceded.
