Glory Head Coach Tony Popovic has made it clear that there is no room for complacency within his squad as they prepare for Sunday’s meeting with Western Sydney Wanderers at Spotless Stadium (Kick off at 4pm WST).
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The men in purple will be looking to consolidate their nine-point lead at the top of the Hyundai A-League by chalking up a fifth successive win at the expense of a Wanderers side currently sitting in eighth place.
But Popovic is adamant that his charges will not be straying from the principles that have served them so well thus far this term.
“We won’t be forgetting the fact that without hard work, things can change very quickly and we won’t take anything for granted,” he vowed.
“We’ll continue to work hard, prepare as we do and respect our opponent.
“They [Wanderers] are a very dangerous opponent with some very good players. We’ll go there confident but knowing that we’ll have to play well.”
This weekend will mark Popovic’s first return to the club whom he famously led to the AFC Champions League and A-League Premiership titles and he admitted that he’s not exactly sure what to expect in terms of the welcome he’ll receive from the home faithful.
“With fans, you don’t know what the reaction will be,” he said, “but whatever it is, I’m sure deep down they’ll respect the time we had together. How they show that will be up to them!
“It’ll be a special feeling. I have fantastic memories from my time there and I still have a lot friends there. I’m sure I’ll see them before and after, but during the game it’s business as usual and we want the three points.”
In terms of early team news, Glory will again be without injured defensive duo Alex Grant and Tomislav Mrcela, while Brendan Hamill will miss the game for the hosts due to suspension.
The visitors have claimed four points from their two meetings with Wanderers this term courtesy of a 1-1 draw on the opening weekend and a thrilling come-from-behind 4-3 victory in Round 13.
Match Details
Sunday, 24 February 2019
Western Sydney Wanderers FC v Perth Glory
Spotless Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park
Kick-Off: 7:00PM (Local) (4:00PM (WST))
Referee: Jonathan Barreiro
Assistant Referee 1: Lance Greenshields
Assistant Referee 2: Andrej Giev
Fourth Official: Ben Abraham
VAR: Kris Griffiths-Jones
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7.00pm (AEDT) , Sky Sport 3 (New Zealand) and MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
Radio Broadcast: myfootballnation.com (SRN, MSR Melbourne, MSR Sydney, MSR Brisbane & 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 #WSWvPER
To purchase tickets visit www.a-league.com.au/tickets
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 7.Nick Fitzgerald, 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY, 9.Oriol RIERA, 10.Alex BAUMJOHANN, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 12.Mitchell DUKE, 13.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 14.Mathieu CORDIER, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 19.Mark BRIDGE, 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk), 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Rashid MAHAZI, 24.Raul LLORENTE, 28.Roly BONEVACIA, 33.Tate RUSSELL, 40.Nicholas SUMAN (gk), 49.Abraham MAJOK
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 7.Nick FITZGERALD (promoted), 19.Mark BRIDGE (promoted), 24.Raul LLORENTE (promoted)
Outs: 5.Brendan HAMILL (suspended – one week).
Unavailable: 18.Marc TOKICH (injury – 4 weeks), 24.Patrick ZIEGLER (injured – 6 weeks), 27.Kwame YEBOAH (injured – 2 weeks)
Perth Glory squad: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 3.Jason DAVIDSON, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 9.Andy KEOGH, 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 13.Matthew SPIRANOVIC, 15.Brandon WILSON , 17.Diego CASTRO, 19.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 22.Fabio FERREIRA, 23.Scott NEVILLE, 27.JUANDE, 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 88.Neil KILKENNY
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 15.Brandon WILSON
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 2.Alex GRANT (thigh – 1 week), 16.Tomislav MRCELA (thigh – 1 week)
#OneGlory
