Glory ALM Head Coach Adam Griffiths has highlighted the need to improve his side’s home form ahead of Saturday’s Round 12 match-up with Central Coast Mariners at HBF Park (kick-off at 6:45pm, tickets available HERE).
Click HERE to view his full pre-match media conference.
The recent upswing in Glory’s fortunes has been based on their performances on the road which have seen them secure the fifth-highest away points tally in the competition.
Only one victory has been recorded at home thus far, however and Griffiths is desperate to improve that statistic, starting by downing the Mariners this weekend.
“We want to make our home ground our fortress,” he said.
“That’s going to be the focus moving forward now because we know if we can do that, then we know that we’re going to have more consistency in our performance and we can attack the rest of the season.
“When we step out onto the pitch at HBF, the mentality needs to be right and we have to be ready to attack the game.
“We’re looking at how we can improve how we want to play and we continue to focus on areas where we need to improve, while also doubling down on the areas we have improved in already and continuing to up our levels every single day.
“I feel like our performances have been strong… we do need to improve our home form and that’s going to be the focus.
“Once we can get that consistency, I think the players will really thrive on the home support, start to take that pressure off and really excel.”
Victory over Central Coast would potentially move Glory to within one point of the Finals spots as we approach the halfway point of the season and the Head Coach is looking for his charges to buck the topsy-turvy nature of this year’s competition.
“The league is so tight at the moment… you get a couple of wins and you skyrocket right up into the [top] six,” he said.
“Every single team is beating each other and the teams that get consistency are going to be the teams that move forward.
“That’s what we want to look for too, so every game for us is 100% focused on getting three points.
“If you perform well, eventually the consistency happens with results and points.”
In terms of Saturday’s opponents, meanwhile, Griffiths believes they could deploy a number of different tactical approaches at HBF Park as they look to build upon an impressive 4-0 victory over Adelaide United last time out.
“Against Adelaide they stepped up and they pressed Adelaide and got some joy from that,” he said.
“So potentially they could do that, but in the previous game, it was more of a low block and we would have to try and break that down.
“So you never know what a team is going to bring and we’ll be prepared for anything.
“When we see tactical changes, we’ll make those changes in the game and the players are smart enough to adjust to those things.”
In terms of early team news, Griffiths revealed that although they will not feature this weekend, attacking trio Jaiden Kucharski, Seb Despotovski and Lachie Wales are all on track to be back in action within the next couple of weeks, while skipper Adam Taggart is in contention to start having been used off the bench in the last two games.
Glory will be out to snap a five-game winless run against the Mariners in what will be the 59th overall A-League meeting between the two sides.
Warren Moon’s men claimed maximum points at HBF Park back in Round 4 courtesy of Bailey Brandtman’s spectacular second-half strike, but they then lost five of their next six before returning to the winners’ circle with that away thumping of Adelaide United last weekend.
Northern Irish midfielder Alfie McCalmont is their leading scorer with three, while Brandtman, Lucas Mauragis, Sabit James and Miguel Di Pizio have all chipped in with two.
Veteran Socceroos hero Andrew Redmayne has impressed in goal, making 44 saves and keeping three clean sheets and former Glory man Storm Roux has again been a key figure at the back, along with Bradley Tapp.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2025/26 Season Round 12
Perth Glory v Central Coast Mariners
HBF Park
Saturday 10 January 2026
Kick-off: 6:45pm WST
Perth Glory Squad: 2.Charbel SHAMOON, 3.Sam SUTTON, 4.Scott WOOTTON, 5.Riley FOXE, 7.Nicholas PENNINGTON, 10.Luke AMOS, 16.Gabriel POPOVIC, 17.Arion SULEMANI, 18.Rhys BOZINOVSKI, 19.Josh RISDON, 20.Trent OSTLER, 21.Adam BUGARIJA, 22.Adam TAGGART (c), 24.Andriano LEBIB, 27.Will FRENEY, 29.Matt SUTTON (gk), 34.Tom LAWRENCE, 39.Giovanni DE ABREU, 40.Ryan WARNER (gk), 45.Brian KALTAK
(Two to be omitted)
Ins: 16.Gabriel POPOVIC, 19.Josh RISDON, 21.Adam BUGARIJA
Outs: None
Unavailable: 6.Brandon O’NEILL (injured), 8.Callum TIMMINS (injured), 9.Jaiden KUCHARSKI (injured), 11.Lachlan WALES (injured), 13.Cameron COOK (gk) (injured), 15.Zach LISOLAJSKI (injured), 25.Sebastian DESPOTOVSKI (injured), 31.Joel ANASMO (injured)
Central Coast Mariners squad: 2. James DONACHIE, 5. Lucas MAURAGIS, 7. Christian THEOHAROUS, 6. Haine EAMES, 8. Alfie McCALMONT, 9. Ryan EDMONDSON, 10. Miguel DI PIZIO, 11. Sabit NGOR, 14. Nico DUARTE, 15. Storm ROUX, 16. Harrison STEELE, 20. Will KENNEDY, 22. Arthur DE LIMA, 24. Diesel HERRINGTON, 26. Bradley TAPP, 30. Andrew REDMAYNE, 37. Bailey BRANDTMAN, 41. Shumba MUTOKOYI, 42. Laurence TAYLOR, 50. Jai AJANOVIC
(Two to be omitted)
UNAVAILABLE: 3. Nathan PAULL (international duty), 4. Trent SAINSBURY (injured), 40. Dylan PERAIC-CULLEN (international duty)
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ALM Match Preview: “Fortress HBF” the focus for Griffiths and co
