Glory Head Coach Alen Stajcic is under no illusions regarding the importance of Saturday’s home clash with Newcastle Jets. (kick-off at 6:45pm WST, tickets available HERE).
View his full pre-match media conference HERE.
Having seen their six-game unbeaten run come to an end against Western United last weekend, the men in purple need to return to winning ways immediately to ensure they stay in the contention as the race for Finals enters the final straight.
And Stajcic is very aware of how high the stakes will be when his charges take to the field at HBF Park.
“It’s very close to that [every game being a Cup Final],” he said.
“For everyone around our part of the table, it’s life and death now on every result and every performance.
“Everyone knows that and I’m sure we’ll be up for it on Saturday.”
The Head Coach was equally candid when it came to his verdict on Glory’s defeat against Western United in Ballarat.
“Without question it was our worst performance of the season,” he said, “and without wanting to take any credit away from Western United, from our own perspective, we weren’t up to speed on the day in any facet of the game.
“For the most part, the scoreline flattered us.
“We could have pinched an equaliser late on and probably had a fair goal, in my view, disallowed, but ultimately we weren’t at the races and it wasn’t good enough.”
In terms of what is required to bounce back this weekend, Stajcic believes it will take an improvement across the board.
“It’s all parts of the match, you can’t just say the defence or attack,” he said.
“We’ve gone from scoring the most amount of goals in the league to having a 0-0 and a 1-0, so it’s just what happens on the day.
“This league is probably the tightest league in the world.
“People can talk about quality and whatever league they want, but the difference from top to bottom is the smallest margin in the world.
“There’s no other league, for me, where the ability of the teams is so close.
“So it just matters who comes to the party on the day and who is going to produce the most quality actions on the day.”
Stajcic went on to reveal that Aleks Susnjar is under an injury cloud heading into the game, but fellow-defender Johnny Koutroumbis may manage to recover from his groin issue in time to feature.
The Jets, meanwhile, lost the F3 derby to Central Coast Mariners last weekend, meaning that they have now won just once in their last six outings.
Scoring goals has not been an issue for Rob Stanton’s side, however, with Apostolos Stamatelopoulos bagging 14 to lead the current Golden Boot standings, Trent Buhagiar claiming five and Clayton Taylor adding a further four from midfield.
There are likely to be a number of familiar faces in the visitors’ ranks, with ex-Glory quartet Brandon O’Neill, Callum Timmins, Daniel Stynes and Dane Ingham all expected to be included in their matchday squad.
Glory have traditionally dominated this fixture over the years, restricting the Jets to just three wins from their 26 overall visits to WA, but the last four home and away meetings between the two sides have all ended locked at 2-2.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-league 2023/24 Season Round 20
Perth Glory v Newcastle Jets
HBF Park
Saturday 9 March 2024
Kick-off: 6:45pm WST
Perth Glory squad: 1.Oli SAIL (gk), 2.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS, 3.Jacob MUIR, 7.Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 8.Mustafa AMINI, 9.David WILLIAMS, 11.Adam ZIMARINO, 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
Two to be omitted
Ins: 2.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS, 11.Adam ZIMARINO
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 5.Mark BEEVERS (co-c) (injured), 21.Antonis MARTIS (injured)
Newcastle Jets squad: 1. Ryan SCOTT, 3. Jason HOFFMAN, 5. Lucas MAURAGIS, 6. Brandon O’NEILL, 7. Trent BUHAGIAR, 8. Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS, 10. Reno PISCOPO, 13. Clayton TAYLOR, 14. Dane INGHAM, 17. Kosta GROZOS, 18. Daniel STYNES, 19. Callum TIMMINS, 20. Michael WEIER, 22. Phil CANCAR, 23. Daniel WILMERING, 25. Carl JENKINSON, 26. Archie GOODWIN, 33. Mark NATTA, 39. Thomas AQULINA
Ins: 25. Carl JENKINSON
Outs: 27. Nathan GRIMALDI
Unavailable: 11. Jacob DOWSE, 15. Jason BERTHOMIER, 27. Nathan GRIMALDI, 29. Justin VIDIC, 37. Lachlan BAYLISS, 66. Zac BOWLING
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