Head Coach Tony Popovic is backing his players to make the travelling Glory members and fans proud in Saturday’s clash with Brisbane Roar.
The Round 20 fixture at Redcliffe’s Dolphin Stadium is the focus of this year’s Glory Shed Tour of Duty, with several hundred Glory supporters set to swell what is expected to be a close-to-capacity crowd.
And Popovic is determined to make it an afternoon to remember for them.
“We saw our travelling fans come to Tokyo and we know how difficult that was not only logistically, but also financially,” he said.
“They’re spending their hard-earned money and taking time off work to come and support their team in what was an historic game for the football club and we could see by their reaction after the game that yes, we didn’t get the result, but they were really proud of their team because they could see it was a fantastic performance that was worthy of a positive result.
“Unfortunately we didn’t get it, but I’m sure they travelled home very proud.
“Now we travel to Brisbane where we will have a larger contingent of members and fans and we want to let them see a real Perth Glory performance that they can be proud of and hopefully this time, we can take the points home.”
Not that Popovic is expecting anything other than a stern test from the hosts who have won four of their last five games and held Glory to a draw at HBF Park in the opening game of the season.
“Brisbane are a team that is in good form and have jumped into the top six,” he said.
“They’ve only lost once in their last seven or eight games, so they’re on a very good run of results and are full of confidence.
“We know there’ll be a good crowd to support them and it’s a good challenge for us to shift quickly from the Asian Champions League to take on a team that is playing good football and getting results.
“The boys know they’re going to be in for a real game.”
The Head Coach went on to confirm that his squad emerged unscathed from their midweek ACL exertions and are keen to get back to domestic action.
“We’re injury-free from the FC Tokyo match which is a real bonus,” he said.
“Of course there’ll be some sore bodies, you expect that, but credit to the players, they are embracing this challenge.
“Logistically it’s difficult to play in two competitions, especially being based in Perth with the amount we have to travel, but the players have accepted that in a positive manner because they want to play in both competitions and sometimes you have to back up after three or four days and perform.
“So we’ll recover the best we can before the game and the players will switch quickly to focus upon an exciting game against Brisbane.”
Glory will be out to extend a four-game unbeaten run against the Queenslanders, during which they have scored a total of 11 goals and in doing so, lengthen their undefeated run of Hyundai A-League games to ten.
Match Details
Saturday, 22 February 2020
Brisbane Roar v Perth Glory
Dolphin Stadium, Redcliffe
Kick-Off: 2:00pm (WST) (4:00pm (Local))
Referee: Daniel Elder
Assistant Referee 1: Andrew Lindsay
Assistant Referee 2: Anton Shchetinin
Fourth Official: Adam Kersey
VAR: Craig Zetter
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 5:00pm (AEDT), ABC TV from 5:00pm (AEDT), Sky Sport 7 (New Zealand), Kayo Sports (www.kayosports.com.au) and MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
Radio Broadcast: myfootballnation.com (6PR, SEN2, Super Radio Network).
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #BRIvPER
To purchase tickets visit www.a-league.com.au/tickets
Brisbane Roar squad: 1.Max CROCOMBE (gk), 2.Scott NEVILLE, 3.Corey BROWN, 4.Daniel BOWLES, 5.Tom ALDRED (c), 6.Macaulay GILLESPHEY, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 10.Bradden INMAN, 12.Aiden O’NEILL, 15.Aaron REARDON, 19.Jack HINGERT, 20.Aaron AMADI-HOLLOWAY, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 22.Jake MCGING, 23.Dylan WENZEL-HALLS, 25.Rahmat AKBARI, 26.Jay O’SHEA, 27.Kai TREWIN, 30.Mirza MURATOVIC, 77.Scott MCDONALD
** 2-4 to be omitted **
Ins: 15.Aaron REARDON (promoted), 27.Kai TREWIN (promoted), 77.Scott MCDONALD (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 28.Izaack POWELL (international duty), 29.Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS (knee – TBC)
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, 13.Osama MALIK, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 17.Diego CASTRO (c), 18.Nicholas D’AGOSTINO, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Vince LIA, 28.Gabriel POPOVIC, 29.Kristian POPOVIC, 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 88.Neil KILKENNY
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 3.Jacob TRATT (promoted), 13.Osama MALIK (promoted), 17.Diego CASTRO (c) (returns from injury)
Outs: 23.Dane INGHAM (omitted)
Unavailable: 6.Dino DJULBIC (ankle – indefinite), 19.Chris IKONOMIDIS (knee – season), 27.JUANDE (groin – 1 week)
#OneGlory
