Tony Popovic is keen to see his side do their talking on the pitch in Saturday night’s clash with Brisbane Roar at HBF Park (Kick-off at 7pm, click HERE for tickets).
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Having moved seven points clear at the top of the Hyundai A-League ladder courtesy of last weekend’s impressive away win at Melbourne Victory, Glory have received plenty of plaudits in the media.
But there is no danger of Popovic getting caught up in the hype.
“We are being asked now if we can stay at the top,” he said, “and that’s a good question to have to answer.
“The best way of answering that is by our actions. Words won’t be remembered on Saturday night, but our actions will.
“We are seven points clear for a reason. We’ve been the best and most consistent team up to now and after 18 rounds, that’s where we deserve to be. Now it’s up to us to try and keep that gap by winning against Brisbane.
“We know that our members and fans were delighted with our performance and result away at Melbourne Victory last week and in front of them on Saturday night, we’d like to deliver another great performance and send them home happy.”
Glory will be up against a Roar side that had gone 12 games without a win before upsetting Sydney FC last weekend and Popovic saw enough from Darren Davies’ men in that Suncorp Stadium clash to know that they will provide a stern test on Saturday.
“They [Brisbane] showed a lot of spirit and fight to come back which is not easy to do when you’ve been on a poor run,” he said.
“They’ve got some exciting young talent there and we have to be ready for that.
They haven’t got much to lose and they’ll come here to Perth with a lot of energy. We just need to keep playing our football and respect our opponent, but know that if we play to our full capabilities, we can get the three points.
“We are always looking to improve and we’ve been working on certain aspects of our game this week. Hopefully that will come out against Brisbane.”
In terms of early team news, Alex Grant (thigh) is Glory’s only confirmed absentee, while Roar are set to welcome back defensive duo Dane Ingham and Daniel Bowles who were both suspended last week.
Match Details
Hyundai A-League 2018/19 Season Round 19
Saturday, 16 February 2019
Perth Glory v Brisbane Roar
HBF Park, Perth
Kick-Off: 7:00PM (Local) (10:00PM (AEDT))
Referee: Shaun Evans
Assistant Referee 1: Josh Mannella
Assistant Referee 2: Matthew Southern
Fourth Official: Adam Fielding
VAR: Kurt Ams
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash tag #PERvBRI
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, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 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, 16.Tomislav MRCELA
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 2.Alex GRANT (thigh – 1 week)
Brisbane Roar FC squad: 1.Brendan WHITE (gk), 2.Dane INGHAM, 4.Daniel BOWLES, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 11.Eric BAUTHEAC, 12.Ruon TONGYIK, 15.Stefan NIGRO, 17.Matt MCKAY (c), 18.Joe CALETTI, 20.Shannon BRADY, 22.Tobias MIKKELSEN, 23.Dylan WENZEL-HALLS, 26.Nicholas D’AGOSTINO, 31.Macklin FREKE (gk), 33.HENRIQUE, 35.Jay BARNETT, 36.Daniel LECK, 38.Izaack POWELL
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 2.Dane INGHAM (returns from suspension), 4.Daniel BOWLES (returns from suspension), 12.Ruon TONGYIK (promoted), 20.Shannon BRADY (promoted), 35.Jay BARNETT (promoted), 36.Daniel LECK (promoted)
Outs: 3.Luke DEVERE (knee), 9.Adam TAGGART (international transfer), 14.Alex LOPEZ (suspended), 19.Jack HINGERT (knee)
Unavailable: 7.Thomas KRISTENSEN (ankle),10.Brett HOLMAN (knee), 13.Stefan MAUK (groin), 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk) (suspended), 24.Connor O’Toole (broken leg)
#OneGlory
