Glory Head Coach Ruben Zadkovich believes his side are well placed to firm up their Finals chances by getting the better of Macarthur FC in Saturday’s high-stakes clash at Macedonia Park (kick-off at 7pm, tickets HERE).
The men in purple currently sit three points outside the top six and very much in the thick of a Finals race which looks set to go right down to the wire.
And a first ever win over the Bulls would be particularly significant given that Saturday’s visitors currently sit one point and one place above Glory.
View his full pre-match media conference HERE.
“Being three points off the six is great for the club and for the boys,” he said.
“They’ve worked really hard in a very difficult time for the club and given themselves an opportunity, which is great.
“For us to be that close is a testament to how hard they’ve worked.
“As a coach, I’d like to see them rewarded for their efforts and we’ve got a massive opportunity against Macarthur this weekend in front of our home fans.”
The Bulls fixture will be Glory’s last at Macedonia Park and Zadkovich believes that the club’s time at their temporary home has been an overwhelmingly positive experience.
“It’s been great,” he said.
“In some ways, it’s been like going back to the early days of Australian football, with the fans really involved and really close to the action and that’s really nice.
“In other ways, we’ve faced some difficulties because parts of the facility are not quite at the level of top A-League stadia, but it’s been really nice to be so close to our fans.
“I feel like they’ve enjoyed it.
“I feel like it’s been a different experience and through a building phase where the club has had to face a little bit of turmoil, I feel like we’ve turned something that could have been a negative into a real positive.
“We have the fans to thank for that and the players who have performed really, really well at home for those fans.
“The fans are fantastic and have really helped us this year at Macedonia Park and at HBF Park as well in that last game.
“We’ll have the extra man this week and we want to put in a good performance for those guys and get our rewards.”
The Head Coach went on to confirm that Glory sustained no fresh injury concerns in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle and that skipper Mustafa Amini is poised to return to the squad having missed the game at McDonald Jones Stadium due to a stomach bug.
Salim Khelifi (foot) and David Williams (calf), however, both remain unavailable.
Macarthur, meanwhile, have struggled for consistency this term and will arrive in the West having won two, lost three and drawn one of their last six outings.
Now coached by former Glory duo Mile Sterjovski and Jacob Burns, the Bulls will be without a number of key players due to injury, including skipper Ulises Davila, Socceroos midfielder Daniel Arzani and Georgian forward Bachana Arabuli.
Winger Craig Noone, however, is set to return from suspension.
The New South Welshmen have secured four wins from their six previous meetings with Glory, but have only visited Perth once and the points were shared on that occasion.
Match Details
ISUZU UTE A-League 2022/23 Season Round 22
Perth Glory v Macarthur FC
Macedonia Park
Saturday 1 April 2023
Kick-off: 7pm
Perth Glory squad: 2.John KOUTROUMBIS, 3.Jacob DOWSE, 4.Luke BODNAR, 5.Mark BEEVERS, 6.Aaron MCENEFF, 7.Ryan WILLIAMS, 8.Mustafa AMINI (c), 13.Cameron COOK (gk),14.Jack CLISBY, 16.Keegan JELACIC, 19.Zach DUNCAN, 21.Antonee BURKE-GILROY, 22.Adam TAGGART, 26.Giordano COLLI, 28.Trent OSTLER, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 30.Pierce CLARK (gk), 36.Joseph FORDE, 37.Jacob MUIR, 43.Adam ZIMARINO
Ins: 8.Mustafa AMINI, 21.Antonee BURKE-GILROY, 26.Giordano COLLI
Outs: None
Unavailable: 1.Brad JONES (gk) (injured), 10.Salim KHELIFI (injured), 15.Jordan ELSEY (suspended), 18.David WILLIAMS (injured), 24.Adrian SARDINERO (injured)
Macarthur FC squad: Filip KURTO, Jake McGING, Ivan VUJICA, Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS, Tomi USKOK, Matt MILLAR, Kearyn BACCUS, Jerry SKOTADIS, Charles M’MOMBWA, Jake HOLLMAN, Craig NOONE, Al Hassan TOURE, Lachlan ROSE, Oliver JONES, Jason ROMERO, Nick SUMAN, Ali AUGLAH, Danny DE SILVA, Jesper WEBBER
Ins: Craig NOONE (returns from suspension)
Outs: Daniel ARZANI (Ankle injury – season)
#ONEGlory
