Kenny Lowe is backing Glory’s youngsters to shine in Friday night’s Round 8 showdown with Melbourne City.
Jacob Italiano, Brandon Wilson and Jake Brimmer are all set to feature as the visitors look to extend their unbeaten run at AAMI Park to four games and Lowe feels that their presence is a major positive.
“How good is it to see the young lads grow and be a bit uncomfortable as well which helps with that growth?” he said.
“You’ve got a young lad in Jacob [Italiano] who sat two exams last week and we basically had to pull him out of school, so he’s having a ball.
“There are plenty of positives there.
“Sometimes they [younger players] might not get that opportunity, but with some senior players out, they’re getting a chance and they’ll play until those guys come back.
“And when those guys come back, we’ll have seen the young players grow and we’ll know that they can affect the game off the bench, or they might have done well enough to keep their places.
“Previously you might have had them on the bench and not been sure what would happen if you brought them on, but we’ll have no qualms about that now”.
Lowe went on to confirm that he is not expecting any of the club’s walking wounded to return before next month’s home game against Newcastle Jets.
“Andreu and Cas [Diego Castro] are doing some rehab,” he said, “Taggs [Adam Taggart] and Scott Neville were out on the field training away from the main group today.
“Daniel Stynes and Joel [Chianese] aren’t far away either, so we’ll probably end up with six coming back all at once and we can’t play them all in the same game because we’d need 12 subs!”
Both of Glory’s trips to AAMI Park last season produced classics, with the visitors earning a 3-2 victory and a 3-3 draw, but City have tightened up defensively this term and have currently conceded the fewest number of goals in the league.
Home boss Warren Joyce is expected to recall big guns Ross McCormack and Tim Cahill to his side as they search for a third home win of the season.
Match Details
Friday, 24 November 2017
Melbourne City FC v Perth Glory
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-Off: 7:50 PM (Local) (4:50 PM WST)
Referee: Daniel Elder
Assistant Referee 1: Luke Brennan
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Ilievski
Fourth Official: Jack Morgan
Video Assistant Referee: Craig Zetter
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 501 from 7:00pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport Pop-Up (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast: myfootballnation.com (Talking Lifestyle). ABC News on Radio, Grandstand Digital, Online & via the ABC Listen App – A-League Live.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #MCYvPER
Melbourne City FC Squad: 1.Dean BOUZANIS (gk), 2.Manny MUSCAT, 3.Scott JAMIESON, 5.Bart SCHENKEVELD, 6.Osama MALIK, 7.Nick FITZGERALD, 8.Neil KILKENNY, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 12.Bradeyn CROWLEY, 13.Stefan MAUK, 17.Tim CAHILL, 18.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 22.Michael JAKOBSEN (c), 25.Iacopo LA ROCCA, 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Marcin BUDZINSKI, 35.Ramy NAJJARINE, 44.Ross McCORMACK
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 17.Tim CAHILL (returns from injury), 44.Ross McCORMACK (returns from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 23.Bruno FORNAROLI (ankle), 9.Marcelo CARRUSCA (calf)
Perth Glory Squad: 2.Alex GRANT, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Jacob POSCOLIERO, 6.Mitch NICHOLS, 8.Xavi TORRES, 9.Andy KEOGH (c), 11. Mitch MALLIA, 13 Nick FEELY (gk), 14.Chris HAROLD, 15.Brandon WILSON, 16.Joseph MILLS, 19.Joe KNOWLES, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 24.Callum TIMMINS, 26.Jacob ITALIANO , 29.Jeremy WALKER, 33.Liam REDDY (gk)
**one to be omitted**
Ins: 24.Callum TIMMINS (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 25.Daniel STYNES (hamstring – 2-3 weeks), 7.Joel CHIANESE (collar bone – 1-2 weeks), 3.Marc WARREN (ankle – 5-6 weeks), 22.Adam TAGGART (hamstring – 3-4 weeks), 17.Diego CASTRO (calf – 1-2 weeks), 18. Andreu GUERAO (calf – 1-2 weeks), 23.Scott NEVILLE (groin – 1-2 weeks)
#CREATEDESTINY
