When Sunday comes Perth’s favourite son Josh Risdon will etch his name in the club’s record books.
It will be the 120th time he pulls on the purple shirt and in doing so will eclipse the record held by former Glory captain Jamie Coyne for the most number of club appearances in the Hyundai A-League.
While another former captain and Jamie (Harnwell) holds the record for the most club appearances in total (256 in the NSL and A-League) Risdon is enjoying the moment.
“It feels pretty good given the history of the club to be up there with the likes of Jamie Harnwell and Jamie Coyne in the A-league. It’s pretty cool and I’m just looking forward to getting out there on Sunday” he said.
The milestone match comes as Risdon aims to put on a good show for Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou who named him in the 30-man provisional squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifier against Thailand next month.
Risdon doesn’t deny it’s extra incentive for him to play well.
“I suppose it is. It will be a big game obviously Ange will be looking at several players who are in the A-League this weekend. It’s going to be a big game, we are all looking forward to it, it’s a tough test and we are really priding ourselves on the away form so hopefully we can get a win.”
And Risdon acknowledged he was yet to hit full pace after three rounds.
“I think I’ve still got a lot to give. I mean, I haven’t started the season off as I’d really liked to so I’ve still got a bit to go but hopefully I can put in a good performance each week, starting this Sunday, and hopefully that will do the job”.
The 24-year old Bunbury born Socceroo said while the team were delighted with last week’s 3-2 pulsating win over Melbourne City FC, the focus was firmly fixed on Brisbane this Sunday.
“We’ve had quite a big turnaround, I think it’s been 8 or 9 days we are really looking forward to it” he said.
“We really want to pride ourselves on our away form this year because we know we are good at home so if we can do that. They’ve just had their first win as well so it’s going to be a big test for us.”
Glory doesn’t have a good track record at Suncorp Stadium, which Risdon says is extra motivation for the boys to play well.
“It’s always tough going up to Suncorp but if we play anything like we did against City on Friday night, I’m sure we’ll come up with a result.
And as far as coming up against his old teammate in Jamie Maclaren who’s yet to fire a goal, Risdon stressed the importance of not getting complacent.
“We know what he’s capable of, watching him last year and when we had him here at Glory so he hasn’t got off the mark yet so hopefully we can keep him to zero after this weekend but yeah, he’s a good player so we can’t really give him any space” Risdon said.
Risdon will also be joined by goalkeeper Liam Reddy in the milestone stakes, as the custodian prepares to celebrate his 200th Hyundai A-League match this weekend.
The match against Brisbane kicks-off on Sunday October 30 at 2pm.
To check out the team news click HERE.
