Perth Glory FC coach Kenny Lowe has backed his young Western Australian born and raised players to lock horns and replace some injured senior players, against glamour team Melbourne City this weekend.
Up to eight WA born or raised players could feature in Saturday night’s ROUND 15 clash against the Hyundai A-League high flyers.
Last week nine local players took part on the pitch against Adelaide United, including Captain Richard Garcia, Alex Grant, Josh Risdon, and Aryn Williams, Youth League captain Jacob Collard, Mitch Oxborrow, Jamal Reiners, Chris Harold and Joe Knowles.
Key central defender Michael Thwaite will miss the match due to a knee injury and fellow centre-back Dino Djulbic is at least a month away from returning.
Lowe said the alternative was simple.
“Play the young boys and see how they stand up” he said.
“They’ve done ever so well, Grantie’s (Alex Grant) done great, Aryn Williams’ done great, you got young Jacob Collard in there , it’s like a crèche in there at the moment with the back four” he joked.
“What’s the average age 20?”
“There might be some negatives with Thwaitey not being there but there’s some massive positives cause we’re finding out how the young WA boys can cope which everyone wants to see”.
Lowe said he expected a tough match against City and admitted the team needed to finish off the opposition when it created goal scoring chances.
“We’ve only lost two games at home and we’ve been down to 10 men both times”.
“We dominated, created chances (last week) even with 10 men. We’re in a good spot, we’re playing quite well we just need to finish the games off.”
Saturday’s match will mark Harold’s 100th Hyundai A-League game and the fixture will be a fundraiser for the Lord Mayor’s Distress Relief Fund for the victims of the Waroona and Yarloop bushfires. The club is donating $1 from every ticket to the appeal. Supporters can make an online donation by clicking HERE.
MATCH DETAILS
Saturday, 16 January 2016
Perth Glory v Melbourne City FC
nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-Off: 6:40 PM (Local) (9:40 PM (AEDT)
Referee: Ben Williams
Assistant Referee 1: Josh Mannella
Assistant Referee 2: Andrew Lindsay
Fourth Official: Adam Fielding
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 9.40pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 4 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast: 720 ABC Perth, 774 ABC Melbourne, ABC Local Radio WA, ABC Local Radio Vic, ABC Grandstand Digital, online & via the ABC Radio Mobile App – A-league Live
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #PERvMCY
To purchase tickets visit www.a-league.com.au/tickets
Perth Glory squad: 1.Ante COVIC (gk), 3.Marc WARREN, 5.Antony GOLEC, 7.Gyorgy SANDOR, 9.Andy KEOGH, 11.Richard GARCIA (c), 10.Nebojsa MARINKOVIC, 12.Jerrad TYSON (gk), 13.Diogo FERREIRA, 14.Chris HAROLD, 15.Hagi GLIGOR, 17.Diego CASTRO, 18.Mitch OXBORROW, 19.Josh RISDON, 23.Michael THWAITE, 24.Jamal REINERS, 25.Jacob COLLARD, 29.Aryn WILLIAMS
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 3.Marc WARREN (returns from suspension), 5.Antony GOLEC (promoted), 10.Nebo MARINKOVIC (returns from injury), 23.Michael THWAITE (promoted)
Outs: 2.Alex GRANT (suspended – 1 match), 28.Joe KNOWLES (omitted)
Unavailable: 6.Dino DJULBIC (ankle – 6-8 weeks), 8.Ruben ZADKOVICH (knee – indefinite)
Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Thomas SORENSEN (GK), 3.Aaron HUGHES, 6.Erik PAARTALU, 8.Aaron MOOY, 9.Harry NOVILLO, 11.Michael ZULLO, 15.David WILLIAMS, 16.Jason TRIFIRO, 17.Wade DEKKER, 18.Paulo RETRE, 19.Ben GARUCCIO, 20.Dean BOUZANIS (GK), 22.Jack CLISBY, 23.Bruno FORNAROLI, 24.Patrick KISNORBO (c), 25.Jacob MELLING, 28.Steve KUZMANOVSKI, 39.Ali EYIGUN
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 28.Steve KUZMANOVSKI (promoted), 39.Ali EYIGUN (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 4.Connor CHAPMAN (knee – 2 months), 5.Ivan FRANJIC (corked thigh – 1 week), 7.Corey GAMEIRO (knee – season), 14.James BROWN (fitness – 1-2 weeks), 21.Stefan MAUK (international duty – Olyroos)
