Perth Glory marquee man Shane Smeltz has been ruled out of Saturday’s top six showdown against the Newcastle Jets at nib Stadium.
Perth Glory marquee man Shane Smeltz has been ruled out of Saturday-s top six showdown against the Newcastle Jets at nib Stadium.
The star striker has an ankle injury and is only expected to miss the one game.
“He needs to get this injection and once he gets it he needs to get four days rest and he should be okay for next week,” Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson said.
Fresh from signing a new two-year contract with the club this week, Billy Mehmet is the likely man to replace Smeltz for a game expected to draw a big crowd.
“That’s the beauty of having two spots for each position, where if one drops out you’ve got another quality player to come in and hopefully Billy can do the job.”
The Glory, fourth on the ladder, are just three points above the Jets who are currently fifth.
“This is a massive game for us. It’s a six-pointer,” the coach added.
While Smeltz recovers on the sidelines, three key defenders have returned to training with Josh Mitchell, Todd Howarth and Scott Neville all back on the track.
Howarth and Mitchell will play with the Youth team on Sunday at 5pm while Neville will return the following week.
PERTH GLORY V NEWCASTLE JETS
Saturday, 18 February 2012
Kick-off: 7pm
nib Stadium
Perth Glory squad:1.Danny VUKOVIC (gk), 3.Bas van den BRINK, 4.Billy MEHMET, 5.Steve PANTELIDIS, 7.Jacob BURNS (c) 8.Adam HUGHES, 10.Liam MILLER, 13.Travis DODD, 14.Steven McGARRY, 15.Tommy AMPHLETT, 18 Jesse MAKAROUNAS, 19. Josh RISDON, 20. Neil YOUNG, 21.Mile STERJOVSKI, 27.ANDREZINHO 35. Dean HEFFERNAN
**one to be omitted**
In:15.Tommy AMPHLETT (promoted), 18 Jesse MAKAROUNAS (promoted)
Out: 9.Shane SMELTZ (ankle)
Unavailable: 6.Chris COYNE (Achilles), 9.Shane SMELTZ (ankle), 11.Victor SIKORA (hip – long term injury list), 16.Evan BERGER (hamstring), 22.Adam TAGGART (U-23 selection)
