Perth Glory Women will be aiming for maximum points as they face off against W-League powerhouse Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
While it may be a case of 3rd vs 7th, Glory has a chance to leap frog the Roar with a win and pending other results, Perth could climb as high as 2nd on the W-League table.
The results haven’t been favourable for Glory in recent weeks, with just one point collected over the past three games but coach Bobby Despotovski said his team isn’t under any pressure.
“Pressure is raising a family. Pressure is if you need to resettle like refugees in Europe. That’s pressure. This is only a game. We live in the best country in the world. We can live with the pressure, and we put the pressure on ourselves to perform to the best of our ability” he said.
“We’re going to try everything we can to make sure we are in the top four and then see if we can advance from there. But as far as pressure, there is no pressure, I take all of that pressure away from the girls.”
Glory boosted its squad this week with the addition of US international Vanessa DiBernardo from the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States. The US international should have an immediate impact on the field for Perth, starting as early as this Sunday.
“Vanessa is obviously a very good player. She has played with the US national team, and obviously she’s working to get selected again now. It’s a very good coup for the club, and she’s going to bring more firepower to the club and help Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord up front,” said Despotovski of the signing.
In addition to her efforts on the pitch, Coach Despotovski expects her inclusion within the squad to have a positive off-field effect as well.
“A lot of girls that we have on our team are Western Australian products. And to see somebody at that stage come into the club from that sort of professional environment like the US national team provides, it’s good for their development as well. It’s good to see what Vanessa does, how she prepares, how she goes about her business and her daily routines. It gives a chance for the others to take notice and realise they need to do this or the other to actually get better”.
Pressure or not, the Glory Women will be looking for the full three points on the road this weekend.
Kick-off is at 11am AWST on Fox Sports 505.
You can read more on new signing Vanessa DiBernardo HERE
The Glory women’s match will be a curtain raiser to the Hyundai A-League clash between Roar and Perth, which kicks off at 2pm WST.
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