Head Coach Tony Popovic feels that his Glory side are in a ‘good place’ as the countdown to next week’s FFA Cup Round of 32 tie with Melbourne Victory continues.
The men in purple marked their final run-out ahead of that Dorrien Gardens clash by downing the WA State Team 5-2 on Wednesday evening, with Jason Davidson, Diego Castro, Jake Brimmer, Yagoub Mustafa and Chris Harold all finding the net.
And Popovic was pleased with the way his charges applied themselves on a wet and windy night at Inglewood’s Perth Plasterboard Centre Stadium.
“It was another good hit-out and a good test to play in those terrible conditions,” he said.
“We got to give a lot of young players a chance to get some first-team minutes which was a new experience for a lot of them and I’m sure they’ll learn from it.
“I was pleased with the kind of goals we scored and now it’s a case of getting those actions happening more regularly. That’s the challenge we have.
“It’s a work in progress and we’re constantly improving. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but there were a lot of pleasing aspects tonight and some good actions.
“The goal is obviously October, but now we’ve got the game against Victory which will be a big test and we’ll go into it in the best shape that we possibly can be given the short amount of time that we’ve all been together.
“We’re in a good place to put on a good performance next week.”
Jake Brimmer’s sublime free-kick makes it 3-0 to Glory
Popovic went on to confirm that skipper Andy Keogh [ankle] will miss the Cup clash, but that Diego Castro and Juande will come into selection contention after both starting against the State Team.
“In terms of injuries, we should have everyone available except for Andy Keogh,” he said, “but everyone’s at different levels, so we’ll see how they all pull up after tonight’s game and the more selection headaches I have, the better.
“It was the first time that Diego and Juande have started in a match, so they’re not quite match fit, but it was good for them to get to know the other players and what we’re expecting and they will only get better as they are both quality players.
“It was pleasing to see Diego out there doing his thing.”
Photographs courtesy of Tom McCarthy and Bryce Conway
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