Tony Popovic is looking for his side to show further improvement when they take on Western Sydney Wanderers at HBF Park on Saturday (kick-off at 6.45pm, tickets HERE).
https://players.brightcove.net/5498268486001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6115171380001
Glory produced arguably their best performance of the season in securing an emphatic 3-0 win over high-flying Melbourne City at AAMI Park last time out, but their Head Coach feels that the men in purple have plenty more potential to fulfil.
“It’s always good to get the points,” he said.
“The belief doesn’t waver because of the performance, but it’s the results we need and I’m delighted for the players that they could back up a good performance the previous week against Victory and this time, against a team in really good form at their own ground, put in an even better performance.
“I’m sure the lads feel better after the win and the challenge now is to do it on a consistent basis and we have an opportunity to do that this week at home.
“We want to be better than last week; that’s the focus this week.”
Western Sydney will head to HBF Park having lost each of their last four games, but Popovic believes that the red-and-blacks remain a dangerous opponent.
“We know that they haven’t had the results recently,” he said, “but when you look at their performance against Wellington last week, in the first half they were very good.
“They are a very dynamic team in the front third and we’ll have to be at the top of our game.
“We understand that it’ll be difficult, but we are also in good form and confident not only after last week’s result, but also after the last couple of performances.
“We’ve been away five times in the first eight games, so it’ll be nice now to have a couple of games at home in front of our own fans.”
In terms of early team news, Dino Djulbic’s ankle injury is set to rule him out, while fellow-defender Osama Malik is yet to overcome his hamstring problem and Kristian Popovic (thigh) will again be unavailable.
For Wanderers, meanwhile, knee injuries continue to sideline Jordan O’Doherty and Radoslaw Majewski.
Glory will be seeking to extend a five-game unbeaten run against Wanderers who have not enjoyed the taste of victory at HBF Park since February 2014.
Match Details
Saturday, 14 December 2019
Perth Glory v Western Sydney Wanderers FC
HBF Park, Perth
Kick-Off: 6:45pm (Local) (9:45pm (AEDT))
Referee: Alex King
Assistant Referee 1: Josh Mannella
Assistant Referee 2: Arvin Shanmuganathan
Fourth Official: Adam Fielding
VAR: Craig Zetter
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #PERvWSW
Perth Glory squad: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 2.Alex GRANT, 3.Jacob TRATT, 4.Gregory WUTHRICH, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 8.James MEREDITH, 9.Bruno FORNAROLI, 12.Kim SOO-BEOM, 14.Chris HAROLD, 15.Brandon WILSON, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 17.Diego CASTRO (c), 19.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 27.JUANDE, 28.Gabriel POPOVIC, 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 88.Neil KILKENNY
**1-3 to be omitted**
Ins: 14.Chris HAROLD (promoted), 15.Brandon WILSON (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 6.Dino Djulbic (ankle – 2-3 weeks), 13.Osama MALIK (hamstring – 1 week), 29.Kristian POPOVIC (thigh – 1-2 weeks)
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 1.Daniel LOPAR (gk), 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 7.Mitchell DUKE (c), 9.Nicolai MULLER, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 13.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 14.Alex MEIER, 16.Mathieu CORDER, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 19.Pirmin SCHWEGLER, 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Nicholas SULLIVAN, 27.Kwame YEBOAH, 29.Daniel WILMERING, 33.Tate RUSSELL, 34.Patrick ZIEGLER, 35.Mohamed ADAM, 40.Nicholas SUMAN (gk)
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 16.Mathieu CORDIER (promoted), 33.Tate RUSSELL (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY (knee), 10.Radoslaw MAJEWSKI (knee), 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (shoulder)
#OneGlory
