Perth Glory will be looking to go one better in the 2nd edition of the Westfield FFA Cup when they face unknown quantity Newcastle Jets in the Round of 32.
Perth Glory are undefeated in their last 12 games against the Novocastrians, including last year’s 2-0 victory in the identical Round of 32 cup fixture. However, head coach Kenny Lowe made it clear that the record is set to have no bearing on Glory’s first competitive game of the season.
“The (Westfield) FFA Cup will be a little harder this year.” says Kenny
“We were a little more advanced in our player recruitment last year, and to replace Andy (Keogh) in time for the Newcastle game is a little bit too tough.”
“Our focus is to emulate what we did last season, and go one better if we can.”
The Jets endured a tough Season 10, picking up the unwanted Wooden Spoon with just 3 wins and 17 points over the 27 games. Newcastle haven’t made the Hyundai A-League finals since season 5 in 2010.
The Hunter Valley-side have undergone major changes personnel changes in the off-season, acquiring 33-year-old head coach Scott Miller, as well as bringing in signings Nigel Boogaard, Mateo Poljak, Mark Birrighitti (return from loan), Jason Hoffman, Labinot Haliti and Cam Watson.
Regardless of the signings, defender Josh Risdon expressed his confidence ahead of the clash.
“We’re really looking forward to the game and we’re ready to get out there,” Risdon said.
“We’ve got a great bunch of boys and we’re a tight group at the moment.”
“We did so well last year in the cup, so we’ll be looking to do that again. We’ve got no trouble to putting on a good performance and we’ve still got a lot of good players in the team.”
Glory have also completed a major facelift this winter, signing La Liga star Diego Castro, 2014-15 Hungarian league champion Gyorgy Sandor, as well as Australians Ante Covic, Jerrad Tyson, Antony Golec, Alex Grant, Hagi Gligor and Marc Warren. All are available for selection except for Castro and Covic, who are set to arrive in Perth in the coming weeks.
Attention will also be set on new signing Gyorgy Sandor; with the ex-Hungarian international set to make his competitive Glory debut. Sandor’s cup experience is very impressive; winning both the Bulgarian Cup and Saudi Arabian King’s Cup of Champions in recent years.
Perth Glory kick off against Newcastle Jets at 5.30pm AWST on Tuesday, August 11. You can watch the match on Foxtel on Demand. Details here: http://bit.ly/1IiQwDJ
Perth Glory memberships are also still available; join the West today for Season 11 of the Hyundai A-League season. Membership options: http://bit.ly/1ipTWHX
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