Glory Head Coach Alex Epakis believes that his side will need to win the physical battle with Newcastle Jets if they are to secure a first Westfield W-League victory of the season at Dorrien Gardens on Monday (kick-off at 6.35pm WST).
The women in purple will head into the fixture off the back of two heavy defeats at the hands of Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC who currently occupy the top two positions on the ladder.
And Epakis feels his young group will need to be more combative in order to get the better of a Newcastle side which will be desperate to snap its own run of four straight losses.
“The girls are desperately eager to play again after that [Sydney result], ” he said.
“When you have that type of result, regardless of whether we think the performance was improving or not or whether we were good in moments or not, I just think any player wants to play again to get over it.
“Nine days is a long time to dwell on that result, so they are keen to go out and try and put things right and that’s the same for the coaches.
“I can’t see anything other than a more motivated and aggressive team coming out on Monday.
“The Jets’ squad is one of the most experienced in the competition in terms of W-League games played.
“They have an experienced average age and you see that in the way they play.
“They have 11 really focused individuals who are ready to go into battle and it’s going to be a really big test for us in the physical aspect, I believe.
“The Jets are very robust and we can’t just match that, we need to exceed it.
“And then with the ball, we need to have more quality and have more strong performances not just for 45 minutes, but for 75 or 90 minutes and then we give ourselves a better chance.”
Epakis went on to explain how his coaching staff responded to the 6-2 home defeat at the hands of Sydney FC and how heartened he has been by the players’ reaction.
“I think it’s very easy as a coach to be reactionary to a result like that and start looking for solutions that aren’t really solutions,” he said.
“Ultimately you can say everything that you want, but it’s down to the details that you’re giving them and the clarity you’re giving them in terms of where they need to improve and how they need to improve.
“So we’ve done that collectively and individually this week and invested some time in the players and what I’m most happy about is that I don’t think there are any players who aren’t clear on what they need to be doing for the team.
“They’re totally clear on their jobs and what’s expected and no-one is hiding from that.
“We’ve set collective and individual targets for the next couple of games and hopefully it starts to click sooner rather than later.
“Most importantly, the girls are motivated to do it.
“I’m not having to light fireworks under people.
“We can’t lose sight of the fact that this was always going to be a transitional season, a development season, whatever you may want to call it, with the young players that we have.
“But ultimately they have higher expectations for themselves than what was on show last week.”
The last meeting between the two clubs yielded a 4-2 away victory for Glory and a maiden W-League goal for Hana Lowry who added to her burgeoning reputation as one of the rising stars of the competition by scoring twice in the defeat against Sydney FC.
Overall, the WA side have won nine and lost five of their previous 20 games against the Jets, with only one of those defeats coming at home.
In terms of early team news, young forward Abbey Green will be unavailable once again through injury, as will long-term absentee, Gemma Craine.
Match Details
Monday, 8 March 2021
Perth Glory v Newcastle Jets
Dorrien Gardens, Perth
Kick-Off: 6:35 pm (Local)(9:35 pm (AEDT))
Referee: Rachel Mitchenson
Assistant Referee 1: Arvin Shanmuganathan
Assistant Referee 2: Adrien Liechti
Fourth Official: Shane Skinner
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Perth Glory squad: 1.Lily ALFELD (gk), 2.Sarah CARROLL, 4.Natasha RIGBY (c), 5.Deborah-Anne DE LA HARPE, 6.Tijan MCKENNA, 7.Elizabeth ANTON, 8.Hana LOWRY, 9.Malia STEINMETZ, 10.Alexia MORENO, 11.Patricia CHARALAMBOUS, 12.Sarah MORGAN, 13.Jamie-Lee GALE, 14.Caitlin DOEGLAS, 17.Marianna TABAIN, 18.Taneesha BAKER, 20.Rebecca BENNETT (gk)
Ins: 11.Patricia CHARALAMBOUS (promoted), 12.Sarah MORGAN (promoted)
Outs: 16.Isabella WALLHEAD (omitted), 23.Katarina JUKIC (omitted)
Unavailable: 3.Gemma CRAINE (hamstring – season)
Newcastle Jets squad: 2.Hannah BREWER, 3.Jemma HOUSE, 4.Chloe O’BRIEN, 5.Alisha BASS, 6.Cassidy DAVIS (c), 8.Evelyn CHRONIS, 9.Tara ANDREWS, 10.Pana PETRATOS, 11.Rhianna POLLICINA, 12.Tessa TAMPLIN, 13.Lauren ALLAN, 14.Tiana JABER, 15.Sophie HARDING, 16.Sunny FRANCO, 18.Taren KING, 20.Claire COELHO (gk), 30.Nicole SIMONSEN (gk)
**1 to be omitted**
Ins: 14.Tiana JABER (promoted), 11.Rhianna POLLICINA (returns from suspension)
Outs: 7.Gema SIMON (Concussion – 1-2 weeks)
Unavailable: Nil
#OneGlory
