Glory Head Coach Kenny Lowe has revealed that Adam Taggart is likely to see some game time off the bench in Saturday’s crunch clash with Melbourne City at nib Stadium.
The Socceroos striker has been ruled out by a hamstring injury since Round 17, but after training strongly in recent weeks, is now considered ready to make a return to the fray.
And Lowe is naturally delighted at the prospect of having another quality attacking option at his disposal.
“Taggs could be back and it’ll be great to have a bit of firepower on the bench,” he said.
“That’ll be good for everyone and good for him.
“Chris [Harold] and Brandon [Wilson] are the only injuries we have at the moment and then Shane [Lowry] is suspended, so we can go like-for-like there and bring Dino in.”
Lowe went on to reveal that morale within the playing group is high heading into the Round 21 match-up and that he still feels the finals are within reach.
“We’ve had a session today which was superb,” he said. “The spirit’s good, the mood’s good.
“There are seven cup finals left and the hunger is to win the next game.
“If we win the next one, we go into the following game with confidence and if we win that one as well, all of a sudden we’ve got momentum.
“We’ve got most people back [from injury] and wins change mindsets.
“We’ve gone on rolls of six or seven games every season I’ve been her and there’s no reason why we can’t do it again.
“We’ve got the players to do it and the firepower to do it and with a little bit of luck, we’ll do it.”
Saturday will, of course, mark the first Glory home game since the tragic death of former club midfielder Liam Miller and Lowe was quick to pay tribute to the much-loved Irishman.
“It shows you that there are bigger things in life than football,’ he said.
“His age was no age and he’s got kids and a missus. I don’t know what my missus would do if that situation happened to me and it’s just so sad.
“It puts into context what we’re doing; it’s a game of football.
“So maybe let’s go out this weekend and win it for Liam.”
Click HERE to grab your tickets for Saturday’s game. Kick off is at 7pm.
Match Details
Saturday, 24 February 2018
Perth Glory v Melbourne City
nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-Off: 7:00 PM (Local) (10:00 PM AEDT)
Referee: Shaun Evans
Assistant Referee 1: Arvin Shanmuganathan
Assistant Referee 2: Wilson Brown
Fourth Official: Adam Fielding
Video Assistant Referee: Eddie Lennie
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #PERvMCY
Perth Glory squad: 2.Alex GRANT, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 8.Xavi TORRES, 9.Andy KEOGH (c), 13.Nick FEELY (Gk), 16.Joseph MILLS, 17.Diego CASTRO, 18.Andreu GUERAO, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 22.Adam TAGGART, 23.Scott NEVILLE, 24.Callum Timmins, 25.Daniel STYNES, 26.Jacob ITALIANO, 27.Riley WARLAND, 29.Jeremy WALKER, 33.Liam REDDY (Gk), 66.Dino DJULBIC, 88.Neil KILKENNY
**three to be omitted**
Ins: 22.Adam TAGGART (returns from injury), 24.Callum Timmins (promoted), 25.Daniel STYNES (promoted), 27.Riley WARLAND (promoted), 29.Jeremy WALKER (promoted)
Outs: 4.Shane LOWRY (suspended – 1 week), 6.Mitch NICHOLS (released)
Unavailable: 14.Chris HAROLD (quad – 1-2 weeks), 15.Brandon WILSON (hip/groin – 1-2 weeks)
Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Dean BOUZANIS (Gk), 2.Manny MUSCAT, 3.Scott JAMIESON, 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE, 5.Bart SCHENKEVELD, 7.Nick FITZGERALD, 8.Oliver BOZANIC, 10.Dario VIDOSIC, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 13.Stefan MAUK, 14.Daniel ARZANI, 15.Denis GENREAU, 18.Eugene GALEKOVIC (Gk), 22.Michael JAKOBSEN, 23.Bruno FORNAROLI, 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Marcin BUDZINSKI, 37.Nathaniel ATKINSON
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 8.Oliver BOZANIC (promoted), 37. Nathaniel ATKINSON (returns from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 6.Osama MALIK (quad), 19.Christian CAVALLO (quad)
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