Head Coach Bobby Despotovski is adamant that his Westfield W-League side are more than capable of toppling newly-crowned Premiers Melbourne Victory in Sunday’s semi-final showdown at AAMI Park (Kick off 11am WST).
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Glory were edged out 2-1 by the navy-and-whites at Dorrien Gardens last Friday, having also gone down by the same scoreline when the two teams met in Round 9.
But Despotovski feels that his charges can gain their revenge this weekend.
“It’s going to be a hard game,” he said, “but I believe that we have enough quality in this team to progress to the Grand Final.
“We want to go one step further [having lost two previous Grand Finals]. If we did that, I would just be so pleased for the playing group and the club.
“Winning the Grand Final would be a fitting testament to their resilience and how much hard work they’ve put in.”
But the former Glory striker believes that a strong start is essential if Victory are to be defeated.
“When we went 2-0 down last week and were chasing the game, the players stood up and did everything we asked them,” he said.
“Now we have to make sure that we do that from the start of the game.
“As much as we can say that it’s a normal matchday, it’s not. It’s the finals. You lose and there’s no coming back.
” We have to be hot, but we have to be calm as well.”
Glory are set to be at full-strength for the last-four clash, with no fresh injuries concerns emerging from Friday evening.
Although they lost away at Victory earlier this season, the women in purple had won on each of their previous four visits and will be seeking to make it back-to-back road victories after thumping Western Sydney Wanderers 5-1 at Marconi Stadium in Round 13.
Match Details
Sunday, 10 February 2019
Melbourne Victory (1) v Perth Glory (4)
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-Off: 2:00pm (Local) (11:00am WST)
Referee: Rachel Mitchenson
Assistant Referee 1: Sarah Ho
Assistant Referee 2: Laura Moya
Fourth Official: Joanna Charaktis
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Isabella Blaess
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Lachlan Keevers
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 1.30pm (AEDT), SBS VICELAND from 1:30pm (AEDT) and My Football Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash tag #MVCvPER #FeelTheFinals
To purchase tickets visit www.w-league.com.au/tickets
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Casey DUMONT (gk), 3.Teigen ALLEN, 4.Alexandra GUMMER, 5.Laura ALLEWAY, 6.Annabel MARTIN, 7.Christine NAIRN, 8.Angela BEARD, 9.Natasha DOWIE (c), 10.Kyra COONEY-CROSS, 11.MelindaJ BARBIERI, 14.Melina AYRES, 15.Emily GIELNIK, 16.Samantha JOHNSON, 17.Danielle WEATHERHOLT, 18.Grace MAHER, 19.Lia PRIVITELLI, 20.Bethany MASON-JONES (gk), 21.Ella MASTRANTONIO
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 5.Laura ALLEWAY (return from injury), 16.Samantha JOHNSON (return from suspension), 17.Danielle WEATHERHOLT (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
Perth Glory squad: 1.Eliza CAMPBELL (gk), 2.Sarah CARROLL, 3.Kim CARROLL, 4.Alyssa MAUTZ , 5.Shannon MAY, 7.Nicole STANTON, 9.Rachel HILL, 10.Jacynta GALABADAARACHCHI, 11.Leticia McKENNA , 12.Jenna ONIONS, 13.Jamie-Lee GALE, 14.Caitlin DOEGLAS, 15.Alexia MORENO, 17.Liana COOK, 20.Sam KERR (c), 21.Morgan AQUINO (gk), 24.Natasha RIGBY, 25.Katie NAUGHTON
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 2.Sarah CARROLL (promoted), 10.Jacynta GALABADAARACHCHI (promoted), 17.Liana COOK (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
#OneGlory
