Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell is confident his side can turn promising form into points when they tackle Newcastle on Sunday at ME Bank Stadium.
Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell is confident his side can turn promising form into points when they tackle Newcastle on Sunday at ME Bank Stadium.
Mitchell is likely to stick with the same squad that dominated Wellington in the second half of last week-s match and said he has seen a real hunger at training following a frustrating finish against the Phoenix.
Dutch midfielder Victor Sikora proved his fitness at the club-s final session on Saturday morning while Socceroos defender Chris Coyne has fully recovered from a virus that saw him play just 26 minutes last weekend.
“We can take plenty of positives out of the way we played last weekend and the lads have been really sharp on the track all week,” Mitchell said.
“We are confident that we-re on the way to playing to our potential as a group and if we do that then we-ll get the results we-re looking for.”
Perth is the only side in the competition to not have played at home this season and while they have suffered two narrow losses on the road Mitchell said spirits remained high.
“We-re looking forward to playing at home and taking on a Newcastle side that has done well in the opening couple of games. It-ll be a good challenge but one we-re confident of being able to tackle head on,” Mitchell said.
“We enjoyed a good record at home last year and have set ourselves to make the trip west a tough one again for opposition sides and it all starts on Sunday.”
Perth Glory v Newcastle Jets
Sunday, 23 August 2009
Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Local kick-off: 3.00pm AWST (Gates open 1.00pm)
Referee: Craig Zetter
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If you-d prefer to purchase tickets to the game you can get them from www.ticketmaster.com.au
Perth Glory Squad: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 4.Andy TODD, 6.Chris COYNE, 7.Jacob BURNS (c), 8.Victor SIKORA, 10.Wayne SRHOJ, 11.Branko JELIC, 12.Scott NEVILLE, 13.Scott BULLOCH, 14.Eugene DADI, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO, 17.Todd HOWARTH, 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI, 20.Aleks VRTESKI (gk), 21.Mile STERJOVSKI, 23.Andrija JUKIC, 24.Matthew MAYORA
* two to be omitted*
In: 13.Scott BULLOCH (return from injury), 14.Eugene DADI (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Jamie COYNE (knee – 3 weeks), Jimmy DOWNEY (knee – 5 weeks), Jamie HARNWELL (hamstring – 1 week), Anthony SKORICH (hip – 6 weeks)
Newcastle Jets squad: 1.Ben KENNEDY (gk), 2. Angelo COSTANZO, 3. Adam D-APUZZO, 4. Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 5. Ljubo MILICEVIC, 6. Ben KANTAROVSKI, 7. Jin-Hyung SONG, 8. Matt THOMPSON (c), 9. Sasho PETROVSKI, 11. Tarek ELRICH, 15. Sean ROONEY, 16. Jason HOFFMAN, 17. Fabio VIGNAROLI, 19. Jason NAIDOVSKI, 20. Neil YOUNG (gk), 24. Chris TRIANTIS
*One to be omitted*
In: Ben KANTAROVSKI
Out: Nil
Unavailable: 10. Donny DE GROOT (knee – indefinite), 12. Jobe WHEELHOUSE (ankle – 4 weeks), 13. Shaun ONTONG (groin – 1 week), 18. Marko JESIC (knee – indefinite), 22. Kaz PATAFTA (back – indefinite)
*Head-to-Head: Played 12; Perth Glory FC 5, Newcastle Jets FC 3, Drawn 4
