Head Coach Alen Stajcic is backing his Glory side to empty the tank in Sunday’s eagerly-anticipated Isuzu UTE A-League season-opener against Newcastle Jets at HBF Park (kick-off at 4.45pm, tickets HERE).
Click HERE to view his full pre-match media conference.
A host of players are in line to make their debuts for the men in purple who will be looking to extend an unbeaten home record against the New South Wales side that stretches back to 2017.
And Stajcic is in no doubt as to how desperate the new-look squad is to reward the club’s Members and fans with a first-up victory.
“It’s always that area of not knowing where you’re at in Round One, but I know we’ve put in some really hard work and have really focused in on some key areas that needed improving on from last year,” he said.
“The boys have all embraced it in a unified way and I know that they are going to give everything in Round One.
“I’ve been coaching for 20 years, so I think people have seen a glimpse of some of my teams before.
“It’s a team that will be united first and foremost and which will fight for the club and for the city and that’s the most important thing.
“People want to see the heart and spirit of the group and that is one thing I can 100% guarantee.”
Glory will be up against a Jets side also under new management in the form of Rob Stanton and Stajcic is fully aware of the threats they will pose.
“They’re a good team and have a good squad on paper,” he said.
“They’ve had an excellent pre-season, playing against seven or eight A-League opponents already; a couple in the FFA [Australia] Cup and another five or six friendlies that they’ve had.
“So in terms of preparation, they’ve probably had the best out of all the teams in the A-League.
“Having watched Robbie work for a long time, I’ve got an immense amount of respect for him as a coach and a football practitioner.
“I think they’re going to be a very well organised and coached team and are going to surprise a few teams this year.
“So I’m definitely wary of the calibre of what they’ve brought in and their prep and it’s going to be a big challenge for us this weekend.”
The Head Coach went on to provide an update on skipper Mustafa Amini, who will miss the Jets clash due to an ongoing back injury and also discussed the battle for places in the run-on side.
“There are always a few niggles around and we still have some key players that are rehabbing,” he said.
“Mustafa Amini has been out for a few months and he’s a key player in the team, so we’re looking forward to getting him back in the next couple of weeks.
“We’ve got a squad of about 30 and they are all fighting for 11 spots in the starting line-up and another six or seven on the bench.
“The good thing about this pre-season is that it’s been very competitive and not just competitive in terms of trying to improve, but also in terms of competition for spots and I hope that continues throughout the year.”
When quizzed about how he expects the season to pan out, Stajcic made it clear that anything is possible judging by what has transpired in the competition in recent times.
“Every club is starting from scratch and what we have learned and it’s been proven again over the last few years of the A-League, is that anyone can move anywhere quickly,” he said.
“Teams can move from the bottom to the top quickly and vice versa, so really last year’s results are irrelevant and have no impact on this year.
“Our mentality and spirit and the way we play is going to have the biggest impact, not what happened last year.”
As for the Jets, they will land at HBF Park looking to secure what would be just their fourth victory in 25 A-League visits.
Following their tenth-place finish last year, a number of their higher-profile players departed during the off-season, including Angus Thurgate and Beka Mikeltadze, but they were replaced with some notable additions such as experienced French midfielder Jason Berthomier, former Adelaide United and Western United forward Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and ex-Glory utility man, Jacob Dowse.
Several other ex-Glory players are likely to feature in the visitors’ matchday squad, namely Daniel Stynes, Callum Timmins and Dane Ingham.
Brandon O’Neill, however, will miss the game through suspension.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2023/24 Season Round 1
Sunday 22 October 2023
Perth Glory v Newcastle Jets
HBF Park
Kick-off: 4.45pm WST
Perth Glory Squad: 1.Oli SAIL (GK), 2.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS, 3.Jacob MUIR, 5.Mark BEEVERS (co-c), 6.Aaron MCENEFF, 7.Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 9.David WILLIAMS, 10.Salim KHELIFI, 12.Luke IVANOVIC, 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 14.Riley WARLAND, 15.Aleksandar SUSNJAR, 17.Jarrod CARLUCCIO, 19.Trent OSTLER, 20.Giordano COLLI, 22.Adam TAGGART (co-c), 23.Daniel BENNIE, 24.Oliver BOZANIC, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 77.Bruce KAMAU
Unavailable: 8.Mustafa AMINI (injured), 11.Adam ZIMARINO (injured), 21.Antonis MARTIS (injured), 27.Jayden GORMAN (injured)
Newcastle Jets squad: Carl JENKINSON, Jason HOFFMAN, Kosta GROZOS, Mark NATTA, Michael WEIER, Dane INGHAM, Trent BUHAGIAR, Daniel STYNES, Phillip CANCAR, Daniel WILMERING, Lucas MAURAGIS, Clayton TAYLOR, Jason BERTHOMIER, Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS, Ryan SCOTT, Thomas AQUILINA, Lachlan BAYLISS, Jacob DOWSE, Justin VIDIC, Callum TIMMINS
Unavailable: Archie GOODWIN (Injured/Indefinite), Reno PISCOPO (Injured/Indefinite), Brandon O’NEILL (suspended), Noah JAMES, Zac BOWLING, Nathan GRIMALDI
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