Perth Glory has travelled with 16 players to Adelaide for tomorrow’s clash against the Reds at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Perth Glory has travelled with 16 players to Adelaide for tomorrow-s clash against the Reds at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Defender Josh Mitchell and striker Adam Taggart have been added to the squad while Mile Sterjovski is the only exclusion. Mile is currently in China undergoing a medical with Super League club Dalian Aerbin.
Although Perth have beaten Adelaide in both their meetings this season – 1-0 at home in October and 3-0 away in January – Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson said they would need to perform much better than they did in their previous encounter against the ninth-placed Reds, whose final hopes are all but over.
“We rode our luck in the last game and we could’ve been down 3-0 before 15 minutes,” he said.
“We’ve got to make sure that we go out and we start right this time. It’s a massive game for us and we’ve got to go out with the right frame of mind.”
Star duo Liam Miller and Shane Smeltz will again both miss the game but Ferguson is confident they-ll return for the home match against the Central Coast Mariners.
“That’s the plan [they’ll be back next week],” the coach said.
“After this game we’ve got a 10 day rest and they’ll be doing their rehab stuff and hopefully they can get to a level where they can be back in the first team.”
“Obviously [Smeltz’s ankle] injection hasn’t worked. We hoped it would have a better effect than it has had but it hasn’t, so we need to give him the rest that he needs.”
“Miller has been working reasonably hard so hopefully he should be okay for the following game.”
Meanwhile, Ferguson said he was saddened about the demise of Gold Coast United, who had their license terminated by the FFA on Friday.
He said the FFA needed to ensure the Queensland club could play out the season in some form, including when the Glory are scheduled to play them away on March 18.
“It-s a sad day for the A-League,” he said.
“Personally (to see) another team getting dismantled is a shame.
“There are four games to go and it means, if they do dismantle (the club immediately), then I believe we automatically get the points.
“The six teams below have already played and won and lost points and it wouldn-t be right for us just to go and get three points. I think the game-s got to be played.”
Ferguson was coach of North Queensland Fury in 2010 when they were dismantled and he understands how the decision impacts everyone.
“It-s very difficult. The players don-t know where they are going. They-ve got to go and try and secure contracts elsewhere and so on. Even the coaching staff now as well; they-ve got to go and look for new clubs. It-s a shame. It hurts a lot of people. Even the fans up there now will be feeling it a little bit as well.
“(FFA) should maybe do a wee bit more due diligence (on owners)… because when a team comes in you want them to be successful and you want them to survive.
“They need to review obviously what they are doing to let people in the league and how they are picking them to come into the league.”
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Adelaide United v Perth Glory
Hindmarsh Stadium
Kick-off: 5pm (Perth time)
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports.
Perth Glory squad: 1.Danny VUKOVIC (gk), 2.Josh MTCHELL, 3.Bas van den BRINK, 4.Billy MEHMET, 5.Steve PANTELIDIS, 7.Jacob BURNS (c) 8.Adam HUGHES, 13.Travis DODD, 14.Steven McGARRY, 15.Tommy AMPHLETT, 17.Todd HOWARTH, 19. Josh RISDON, 20. Neil YOUNG, 22.Adam TAGGART, 27.ANDREZINHO 35. Dean HEFFERNAN
**one to be omitted**
In: 2.Josh MTCHELL (returns from injury), 22.Adam TAGGART (returns from Olyroos)
Out: 21.Mile STERJOVSKI (medical in China)
Unavailable: 6.Chris COYNE (Achilles), 9.Shane SMELTZ (ankle), 10.Liam MILLER (hamstring), 11.Victor SIKORA (hip – long term injury list), 16.Evan BERGER (hamstring) 21.Mile STERJOVSKI (medical in China)
