Head Coach Tony Popovic believes that his Glory side will be recharged and raring to go in Saturday’s Round 14 clash with Melbourne City at AAMI Park (kick off 4.50pm WST).
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The men in purple will travel east off the back of a gruelling run of three games in seven days, each of which ended in victory with a combined total of 11 goals scored.
And Popovic feels that his squad have recovered well since the most recent of those games, Sunday’s dramatic comeback win over Western Sydney Wanderers at nib Stadium.
“We’ve had a few days to recharge,” he said. “It’s only a six-day turnaround, but at this stage, that feels like a lifetime.
“We’ll be ready for Melbourne City. We’ve come through very well in terms of results the last seven days which was a difficult period.”
He went on to discuss Glory’s performance levels this term and as he also did in the wake of the 4-3 win over Wanderers, lauded his players’ mental strength.
“I’m a big believer in performance and if we perform well, I always believe that anything is possible with this group of players,” he said.
“It’s a very good recent record in terms of goals scored… and we’d love that to continue.
“We certainly anticipate creating chances on Saturday and if we perform well, we’ll give ourselves a chance of keeping the run going.
“Although we didn’t defend well against Western Sydney as a team, you have to credit the character and resilience to keep a cool head when you’re 3-1 down with 12 minutes to go and come through to end up winning the game.
“I’m sure we’ll need to rely on that further throughout this season and that’s a great trait to have.
“We hope that, together with our football, it will keep us on this track of having a chance to win the title.”
Glory are set to be at full-strength for Saturday’s game at a venue where they have not lost against City since October 2016.
The hosts also appear not to have sustained any fresh injuries from their midweek defeat at the hands of Central Coast and Warren Joyce’s men will be out to continue their impressive home from which has seen them pick up 13 points from six games.
Match Details
Saturday, 19 January 2019
Melbourne City FC v Perth Glory
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-Off: 4:50PM (WST) 7:50PM (Local)
Referee: Shaun Evans
Assistant Referee 1: Wilson Brown
Assistant Referee 2: Tony Peart
Fourth Official: Jonathan Barreiro
VAR: Kris Griffiths-Jones
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7.00pm (AEDT), 10 Bold from 7:30pm (AEDT), Sky Sport 3 (New Zealand) and MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
Radio Broadcast: myfootballnation.com (SEN+ & 6PR). ABC News on Radio, Grandstand Digital, Online & via the ABC Listen App – A-League Live.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash tag #MCYvPER
To purchase tickets visit www.a-league.com.au/tickets
Melbourne City FC squad: 2.Ritchie De LAET, 3.Scott JAMIESON (c), 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE, 5.Bart SCHENKEVELD, 6.Osama MALIK, 7.Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 8.Riley MCGREE, 10.Dario VIDOSIC, 13.Nathaniel ATKINSON, 15.Kearyn BACCUS, 18.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 19.Lachlan WALES, 21.Ramy NAJJARINE, 22.Curtis GOOD, 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Florin BERENGUER-BOHRER, 34.Connor METCALFE, 40.James DELIANOV
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE (return from suspension), 10.Dario VIDOSIC (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
Perth Glory squad: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 2.Alex GRANT, 3.Jason DAVIDSON, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 9.Andy KEOGH, 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 13.Matthew SPIRANOVIC, 15.Brandon WILSON, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 17.Diego CASTRO, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 22.Fabio FERREIRA, 23.Scott NEVILLE, 27.JUANDE, 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 88.Neil KILKENNY
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 13.Matt SPIRANOVIC, 15.Brandon WILSON
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 19.Chris IKONOMIDIS (international duty)
#OneGlory
