Tony Popovic has confirmed that his players have lost none of their focus during what has been an extended build-up to Saturday’s home meeting with Adelaide United (kick-off at 4.30pm, tickets HERE).
Having ended 2019 by chalking up four successive victories, Glory enjoyed the bye last weekend, but the club’s Head Coach feels that the break has not diluted the determination within the playing group.
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“I haven’t had to do much [during the bye week],” he said.
“When we look at how players train, that usually answers things for us as a coaching staff.
“They look very focused. When they work, they work with real intensity and purpose.
“We can see that the players are enjoying this period, but they want more.
“No-one gives you a result; you have to go out there and earn it and we’ll have to do that on Saturday against Adelaide.”
The Reds will head across the border looking to snap a run of three consecutive defeats, but Popovic feels that the performances produced by Gertjan Verbeek’s side’s have been better than those results suggest.
“We know it’s going to be a difficult game,” he said.
“They [Adelaide] are not in the best form in terms of results, but earlier in the season they were one of the form teams and were playing some really exciting football.
“They played really well against Sydney FC without getting the result and we have to be ready for this game.
“We know they are quite aggressive and a very mobile team and I’m sure they’ll try to bring that here to Perth.
“We have to be ready for that and trust our own game.”
In terms of early team news, Popovic confirmed that Osama Malik will again miss out through injury, but fellow-defender Greg Wuthrich has trained with the main group this week and is expected to overcome his knee problem in time to come into selection contention.
Saturday marks the first meeting between Glory and Adelaide this term, with the men in purple having taken seven points from the three regular-season clashes last year and also prevailed on penalties in an epic semi-final at HBF Park.
Match Details
Saturday, 11 January 2020
Perth Glory v Adelaide United
HBF Park, Perth
Kick-Off: 4:30pm (Local) (7:30pm (AEDT))
Referee: Alex King
Assistant Referee 1: Josh Mannella
Assistant Referee 2: Matt Southern
Fourth Official: Adam Fielding
VAR: Craig Zetter
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #PERvADL
Perth Glory squad: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 2.Alex GRANT, 3.Jacob TRATT, 4.Gregory WUTHRICH, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 8.James MEREDITH, 9.Bruno FORNAROLI, 12.Kim SOO-BEOM, 14.Chris HAROLD, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 17.Diego CASTRO (c), 19.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 27.JUANDE, 28.Gabriel POPOVIC, 29.Kristian POPOVIC, 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 88.Neil KILKENNY
**2-3 to be omitted**
Ins: 14.Chris HAROLD (promoted), 29.Kristian POPOVIC (returns from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 6.Dino DJULBIC (ankle – indefinite), 13.Osama MALIK (hamstring – 1 week), 18.Nicholas D’AGOSTINO (international duty)
Adelaide United squad: 2.Michael MARRONE, 4.Ryan STRAIN, 5.Michaël MARIA, 6.Vince LIA, 7.Ryan KITTO, 8.Riley McGREE, 11.Kristian OPSETH, 14.George BLACKWOOD, 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 17.Nikola MILEUSNIĆ, 18.Lachlan BROOK, 20.Paul IZZO (gk), 22.Michael JAKOBSEN (c), 23.Jordan ELSEY, 26.Ben HALLORAN, 27.Louis D’ARRIGO, 30.Isaac RICHARDS (gk), 40.Dakota OCHSENHAM (gk)
**0-2 to be omitted**
Ins: 30.Isaac RICHARDS (promoted)
Outs: 10.James TROISI (hamstring)
Unavailable: 1.Daniel MARGUŠ (international duty), 24.Pacifique NIYONGABIRE (adductor), 29.Kusini YENGI (knee), 35.Al Hassan TOURE (international duty), 36.Noah SMITH (foot)
#OneGlory
