Perth Glory midfielder Nick Ward and assistant coach Gareth Naven are both relishing the prospect of tackling in-form Western Sydney Wanderers at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday.
Perth Glory midfielder Nick Ward and assistant coach Gareth Naven are both relishing the prospect of tackling in-form Western Sydney Wanderers at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday.
The red and blacks have turned their home ground into an atmospheric fortress in their debut Hyundai A-League season, but Ward claimed that he will find the partisan home support uplifting rather than intimidating.
“I’ll probably enjoy it more,” he said.
“I love to play in front of big crowds and it should be a good spectacle.
“I spoke to (Wanderers defender) Nikolai Topor-Stanley the other day and he said that they’re expecting a sell-out, so it should be good.
“They’ve been doing really well, they’re a very organised team, but we’ll do our work this week and hopefully we can go out and create an upset.
“If we stick to our game plan and play like we did at the weekend, we’re in with a chance.
“And if we can silence their crowd as well, that’ll be good.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Naven who was of course a regular visitor to Parramatta Stadium during his playing days.
“From what I remember of it,” he said, “it’s a beautiful football surface and the fans are pretty close to the ground which provides a great atmosphere.
“When you’re playing at home, your fans are your extra player and I’m sure Western Sydney will be raring to go.
“But I think it’s a fantastic event and an opportunity for our players and the club to go there and do their best.”
Not that Naven is underestimating the challenge posed by Tony Popovic’s who will be looking to chalk up a seventh successive win that would lift them to the top of the ladder should the Mariners fail to beat Melbourne Victory.
“They’ve got an astute coach who is organised and structured,” he said.
“And they have players who believe in what they’re doing and I think with that kind of combination within the A-League, you’re going to have a tough day.
“With the FFA coaching education processes and pathways, it does challenge and educate the coaches and gives them the knowledge and the tools to try and implement on the training ground.
“So it won’t just be a battle of the players, it’ll be a battle of the coaches as well.”
Ward, meanwhile, is looking to build upon his excellent display against the Mariners last time out and believes that the methodology employed by new coach Alistair Edwards has already made a positive impact upon the player group.
“Alistair got me and everyone else in the team doing their jobs last weekend and it seemed to work really well,” he said.
“With the structure that he brought in, you’re not really running around getting in other people’s way.
“Everyone’s in their own space and it makes you a bit calmer on the ball.
“There’s a lot to learn, but we’ve got a good squad with some great players who have been around the world and are intelligent players, so we are picking up what he’s saying and I think we’ll get better each week.
“He’s clear in telling you what he wants you to do and if you’re not doing it right, he won’t just let it continue, he’ll let you know.”
Naven later confirmed that left-back Scott Jamieson will come back into contention for a starting berth this weekend and that Danny Vukovic is expected to be fit to play despite missing Tuesday’s training session due to illness.
