Glory ALM Head Coach Adam Griffiths has not been dwelling upon the off-field upheaval at Western Sydney Wanderers ahead of Sunday’s clash with the red-and-blacks at CommBank Stadium (please note new kick-off time of 4pm WST, watch live on Paramount+).
Click HERE to watch his full pre-match media conference.
Former Glory Head Coach Alen Stajcic was relieved of his duties at Wanderers earlier this week and replaced by veteran coach Gary van Egmond who has been handed the reins until the end of the season.
Griffiths, who worked under van Egmond during his playing career, acknowledged that the coaching change adds an extra wrinkle to the pre-game narrative, but insisted that Glory’s preparations have not been significantly affected by the prospect of a new-coach “bounce”.
“We were wary of them anyway,” he said.
“They’re a team that has been a little bit unlucky; they’ve hit the crossbar a lot and they have a lot of quality players.
“So with a new coach it just adds a little bit of the unknown.
“I think there’ll be some form of change to make his mark and I expect it to be a difficult game away from home.
“But it’s a challenge that we’re looking forward to.
“He [van Egmond] is a very good coach who has won the league before and he knows the A-League very well.
“It’ll be nice to see a familiar face.
“Obviously it makes things a little more difficult when you’re analysing the opposition, but a lot of the time we are focusing on ourselves and how we can improve and keep moving up in the right direction.
“So for us, it doesn’t change much.”
The Head Coach went on to provide an update on the prospect of formerly injured trio Will Freney, Lachie Wales and Jaiden Kucharski, plus new signing Stefan Colakovski, featuring on Sunday.
“There are a few players returning,” he said.
“Will, JK and Lachie will become available, but the week’s not finished yet, so we’ll see how they finish the week.
“Stef is the same as the others; he’s available now which his fantastic for us .
“We’re starting to bring back quality players into the squad who will challenge the players that are in there at the moment, so it’s exciting times.
“With these players coming back into training, it increases the intensity and makes sure that everyone’s on their toes.
“That’s the advantage of having a stronger squad.
“It means if everyone’s on their game, performance is going to increase.”
The most recent of Western Sydney’s three wins thus far this term came in Round 12 when a Kosta Barbarouses penalty secured them three points away at Melbourne Victory.
Barbarouses has been his side’s most potent attacker, finding the net four times and adding one assist, with no other member of the Wanderers squad managing to score more than once.
The New Zealand international could be partnered up front by new signing Hiroshi Ibusuki who has scored seven times in his nine previous ALM appearances against Glory.
Former Glory man Jarrod Carluccio, meanwhile, has made eight appearances in midfield, Anthony Pantazopoulos has been a key figure at the back and experienced goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas has made 41 saves while keeping three clean sheets.
Seb Despotovski bagged the only goal during the reverse fixture back in early December and that result meant that the last eight meetings between the two sides have yielded an even split of four wins apiece.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2025/26 Season Round 14
Western Sydney Wanderers v Perth Glory
CommBank Stadium
Sunday 25 January 2026
Kick-off: 4pm WST
Western Sydney Wanderers squad: 3. Alex GERSBACH, 5. Dylan SCICLUNA, 8. Steven UGARKOVIC, 9. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 11. Hiroshi IBUSUKI, 14. Phillip CANCAR, 17. Jarrod CARLUCCIO, 19. Ruon TONGYIK, 20. Lawrence THOMAS, 21. Aydan HAMMOND 22. Anthony PANTAZOPOULOS, 23. Bozhidar KRAEV, 24. Nathan BARRIE, 25. Joshua BRILLANTE, 26.Brandon BORRELLO, 30. Jordan HOLMES, 31. Aidan SIMMONS 32. Angus THURGATE, 37. Alaat ABDUL-RAHMAN, 38. Jai ROSE, 39. Awan LUAL, 42. Jesse CAMERON, 45. Alou KUOL
INS: 21. Aydan HAMMOND (Return from international duty) 23. Bozhidar KRAEV, 31. Aidan SIMMONS (return from international duty)
Perth Glory Squad: 2.Charbel SHAMOON, 3.Sam SUTTON, 4.Scott WOOTTON, 7.Nicholas PENNINGTON, 9.Jaiden KUCHARSKI, 10.Luke AMOS, 15.Zach LISOLAJSKI, 16.Gabriel POPOVIC, 17.Arion SULEMANI, 18.Rhys BOZINOVSKI, 20.Trent OSTLER, 22.Adam TAGGART (c), 24.Andriano LEBIB, 25.Sebastian DESPOTOVSKI, 27.Will FRENEY, 29.Matt SUTTON (gk), 34.Tom LAWRENCE, 39.Giovanni DE ABREU, 40.Ryan WARNER (gk), 45.Brian KALTAK, 67.Stefan COLAKOVSKI
(Two to be omitted)
Ins: 9.Jaiden KUCHARSKI, 27.Will FRENEY, 67.Stefan COLAKOVSKI
Outs: 30.Tadi KUZAMBA
Unavailable: 5.Riley FOXE (injured), 6.Brandon O’NEILL (injured), 8.Callum TIMMINS (injured), 13.Cameron COOK (gk) (injured), 31.Joel ANASMO (injured)
#ONEGlory
ALM Match Preview: Griff unfazed by unknowns ahead of Wanderers trip
