Glory ALW Head Coach Stephen Peters his relishing the prospect of seeing his in-form charges go toe-to-toe with Wellington Phoenix in Sunday’s ALM/ALW double-header at HBF Park (kick-offs 4pm ALM, 6:45pm ALW, tickets available HERE).
Click HERE to watch his full pre-match media conference.
Click HERE to watch defender Baxter Thew’s pre-match media conference.
Peters’ side will be full of confidence having started the season by picking up four points and keeping two clean sheets in consecutive away games at Newcastle and Adelaide.
But the Head Coach believes that Phoenix, who finished second last season, will potentially be a tougher nut to crack.
“Wellington are a monumental challenge,” he said.
“They’re a great side and I think they’re very well coached.
“They’re obviously not going to be too pleased that they’ve only picked up one point from their first two games, so they’ll see this as a big opportunity to come and get three points against us.
“And obviously we see this as a big opportunity to play in front of our fans for the first time this season.
“Being at HBF… it’ll be a Finals-style atmosphere, if you will, so I think there’ll be a lot of pressure, but it’s a good challenge and a good time for that for our group.
“We can’t be overawed by it.
“We’ve just got to be ready for it.”
Peters went on to stress that while pleased with the return of four points from two tricky away fixtures, he feels that there is still plenty of room for improvement.
“We didn’t get to assert ourselves and dominate possession and be on the front foot and all those factors we’re looking to do in games,” he said
“But I’m extremely pleased with the adaptability we’ve shown and the good character we’ve shown to get actually behind the ball and protect a result which is something that’s been missing away from home for quite a bit of time.
“We’re looking to continuously improve our attack so that we can dominate matches with the ball.”
In terms of early team news, the Head Coach is set to have an almost full squad at his disposal this weekend, including skipper Izzy Dalton who is poised to return from injury and he acknowledged that he will have some difficult selection decisions to make.
“It’s always a tough one as a coach, particularly if you get position-specific as well,” he said.
“I think you’ve just got to play the best team available, but obviously you’ve got to reward the winning team as well.
“So it’s a balancing act as a coach, especially as players get fitter and become available.
“You’ve got more headaches, you’ve just got to do the best with what’s in front of you and training is the ultimate guide to that.”
In addition to Dalton’s likely return, goalkeeper Teresa Morrissey has recovered from her elbow injury to challenge Alyssa Dall’Oste for the gloves and both Charli Wainwright and Ella Lincoln may also come back into the selection frame.
As for Phoenix, they are likely to include vastly-experienced Matildas midfielder Tameka Yallop in their starting line-up, along with former Crystal Palace forward Indiah-Paige Riley and ex-Glory striker Grace Jale who is now more regularly deployed in midfield.
Bev Priestman’s side were beaten 1-0 when they visited WA last season and of the 10 overall ALW meetings between the two clubs, Glory have won six to Wellington’s four.
In their two games thus far this term, the Kiwi outfit were beaten 2-1 at home by Melbourne City in Round One before coming from behind to secure a 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory in Round 2.
Match Details
Ninja A-League 2026/27 Season Round 3
Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix
HBF Park
Sunday 1 November 2026
Kick-off: 6:45pm
#ONEGlory
ALW Match Preview: Peters excited by “monumental” Wellington challenge
