Glory Head Coach David Zdrilic is backing his charges to provide some extra festive cheer for the club’s supporters by grabbing a first home win of the season in Friday’s Isuzu UTE A-League Round 10 match-up with Macarthur FC (kick-off at 7:45pm, tickets available HERE).
Listen to his full pre-match interview HERE
The hosts will come into the game having secured a morale-boosting opening victory of the campaign away at Brisbane Roar last weekend.
And Zdrilic is determined to build upon the momentum generated by that hard-earned result at Suncorp Stadium.
“We were obviously very happy to get our first win and it was important,” he said.
“We’ve been through a tough start to the season, so for us to come away with the win against a team that was in a very similar position to us was good for the group and good for our confidence.
“The guys got rewarded for a really good mentality going into the game.
“They reset and went again in humid conditions.
“It wasn’t always the best football, we know that, but it was a very tense game and for us, it was all about getting the result.
“In general, we just want to kick on from this very positive result in front of our our fans who have been very loyal.
“We know the atmosphere at our stadium and what it can be and we want to embrace that and make sure we replicate the same feeling we had in Brisbane at home.”
Glory will be out to avenge a 6-1 defeat at the hands of a rampant Bulls side on opening day and although they face a quick turnaround having hosted the Mariners on Monday evening, the Head Coach is certainly aware of the threat Mile Sterjovski’s men will pose.
“We definitely know the quality they have,” he said.
“They have a strong front four.
“They can break, they can counter and transition and get in behind you and be deadly.
“We know that from the first game and they’ve been doing that regularly not only this season, but last season as well.
“But it’s about us taking the game to them… and swinging that momentum in our favour.”
Zdrilic went on to confirm that skipper Adam Taggart is expected to return on Friday having missed the Brisbane trip due to illness and fellow-Perth local Brandon O’Neill will also be available once again having completed the required protocols after suffering a concussion against the Jets.
Macarthur, meanwhile, will head across the country looking to secure a first ever win in Western Australia having recorded two defeats and two draws in their previous four visits.
The visitors can take heart, however, from the fact that they have already won twice on their travels this term, at Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix and also picked up a point at Western United in Round 7.
The Bulls’ main goal threat has been provided by overseas duo Valere Germain and Marin Jakolis who have each found the net on four occasions, while Jed Drew has contributed a league-high five assists.
Former Glory duo Walter Scott and Danny De Silva have also featured prominently for the NSW club this season, with the former making nine appearances, three of which have been starts and the latter scoring his second goal of the campaign in Monday’s 1-1 draw with Central Coast.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2024/25 Season Round 10
Perth Glory v Macarthur FC
HBF Park
Friday 27 December 2024
Kick-off: 7:45pm WST
In association with
#ONEGlory
