Glory Head Coach Alen Stajcic has called for greater concentration from his side ahead of Saturday’s home clash with Brisbane Roar (kick-off at 6:45pm, tickets available HERE).
View his full pre-match media conference HERE
The men in purple are unbeaten in four games, having scored 11 goals in that run, but were forced to settle for a point in last week’s visit to Adelaide United after again conceding in stoppage time.
And the Head Coach emphasised the importance of eliminating such late lapses in order to close the gap on the top six.
“Last week was a little bit bittersweet,” he said.
“There were lots of good signs and a good second half was leading towards a good result.
“So to get that killer punch again was a bit of a blow, especially considering that a win would have crept us up the ladder a little bit.
“There were lots of positives, but that killer blow was disappointing.
“We’ve shown that we can be really good in moments in the game, but we’ve also shown that we can lose focus.
“To lose points with the last kick of the game four times shows that we’re not focused enough in critical aspects of the game, so we really need to focus on this game at hand.
“We’ve built a little bit of momentum, confidence and belief.
“Our Achilles heel is still needing to protect our goal a little bit better, but there are lots of good signs in and around the group and the fact that we can dominate most of the teams in the top six for large periods of the game, which we have done over the last month, just shows that we’re heading in the right direction.
“The team is aligned, united and pulling in the same direction and giving everything that they can on the pitch and that’s probably been the biggest positive over the last few months.”
Saturday will see the return to HBF Park of former Glory Head Coach Ruben Zadkovich, along with a number of players who also previously wore the famous purple, but Stajcic played down the notion that any of his charges will be out to prove a point.
“We haven’t spoken about that, to be honest,” he said.
“There’s too much at stake moving forward to think about what happened last year.
“Any memories you have, good or bad, they’re not going to drive you forward.
“You’ve got to think about the team, about moving forward and focus on this match.
“Our season is on the line as we move forward.
“We’ve shown that we are competitive and we’ve caught up with the pack, but we certainly haven’t overtaken anyone in the pack, so we have a lot of hard work still to do.”
While insisting that it is too early to pass comment on Zadkovich’s effect at Roar, Stajcic was quick to point out the stern challenge the Queenslanders will present this weekend, particularly off the back of their 5-1 demolition of reigning Premiers Melbourne City last time out.
“He’s [Zadkovich] only been in charge for two games, I think, so it’s a little bit false to judge a coach on the first week they arrive whether they win or lose,” he said.
“It takes a bit of time to have an impact, but obviously their performance last week was probably their best of the year, certainly since the early days of Ross’s [Aloisi] tenure before he left.
“They’ve got a lot of bodies back now and you can see the difference in their team.
“Henry Hore and [Nikola] Mileusnic are extremely dangerous and Jay O’Shea is one of the classiest midfielders in the league, so there is certainly enough in their team to threaten anyone and that’s why they were in the top three or four during the early part of the season.”
In terms of early team news, Glory will again be without midfielder Mustafa Amini as he recovers from a rib injury, while Johnny Koutroumbis’ hip problem will also rule him out.
On a more positive note, Stefan Colakovski returns to the selection mix having missed the Adelaide game due to suspension and up-and-coming central defender Kaelan Majekodunmi could join him in the squad after regaining full fitness.
As for the visitors, their spectacular win over City was their first in five games and their first on the road since Round 7.
O’Shea scored one of the goals last weekend to take his tally for the campaign to seven and the gifted Irishman has also contributed three assists.
Mileusnic, meanwhile, has found the net four times this term, with Thomas Waddingham and ex-Glory man Henry Hore each bagging three.
Glory have won five of the seven most recent games contested by the two sides in WA, including last season’s fixture at Macedonia Park which ended 2-1.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2023/24 Season Round 17
Perth Glory v Brisbane Roar
HBF Park
Saturday 17 February 2024
Kick-off: 6:45pm
Perth Glory Squad: 1.Oli SAIL (gk), 3.Jacob MUIR, 4.Luke BODNAR, 7.Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 9.David WILLIAMS, 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 14.Riley WARLAND, 15.Aleksandar SUSNJAR, 16.Josh RAWLINS, 17.Jarrod CARLUCCIO, 19.Trent OSTLER, 20.Giordano COLLI, 22.Adam TAGGART (co-c), 23.Daniel BENNIE, 27.Jayden GORMAN, 28.Kaelan MAJEKODUNMI, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 31.Joel ANASMO, 34.Andriano LEBIB, 77.Bruce KAMAU
Two to be omitted
Ins: 7.Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 28.Kaelan MAJEKODUNMI, 34.Andriano LEBIB
Outs: 2.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS
Unavailable: 2.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS (injured), 5.Mark BEEVERS (co-c) (injured), 8.Mustafa AMINI (c) (injured), 11.Adam ZIMARINO (injured), 21.Antonis MARTIS (injured)
Brisbane Roar squad: 1. Macklin FREKE (GK), 3. Corey BROWN, 5. Tom ALDRED (C), 6. Joe CALETTI, 7. Florin BERENGUER, 8. Jonas MARKOVSKI, 10. Nikola MILEUSNIC, 12. Taras GOMULKA, 13. Henry HORE, 16. Thomas WADDINGHAM, 17. Carlo ARMIENTO, 19. Jack HINGERT, 20. Marco ROJAS, 21. Antonee BURKE-GILROY, 23. Keegan JELACIC, 26. Jay O’Shea, 27. Kai TREWIN, 29. Matt ACTON (GK), 32. James NIKOLOVSKI, 35. Louis ZABALA
Ins: 5. Tom ALDRED (C)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable:Â 2. Scott NEVILLE, 14. Rylan BROWNLIE
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