Glory Head Coach Alen Stajcic believes that victory over Newcastle Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday (kick-off at 3pm WST) could provide a launchpad for a sustained upswing in form.
View his full pre-match media conference HERE.
The men in purple have not managed to secure maximum points on the road this season as yet, but enjoy an impressive away record at Newcastle having won there on 12 of their previous 27 A-League visits.
And the Head Coach is confident that if they can take that tally to 13 this weekend, it could have a transformative effect on their season.
“It’s a great place to go and play football,” he said.
“It’s such a passionate crowd.
“They’re definitely one of the most passionate crowds for their own local area in the country in every sport.
“It’ll be a good trip for us and a good opponent for us and it’s just another opportunity for us to keep growing.
“If we can just accumulate a few more minutes of momentum throughout the game, I think we can really start a good run.”
Stajcic was quick to point out, however, that improvement is required across the board if Glory are to claim the spoils on Saturday and potentially move to within three points of the top six.
“We know we’ve got a lot of hard work to do and a lot of ground that we have to cover and re-cover,” he said.
“There’s no magic wand, so we just have to keep working hard.
“The thing that gives me more confidence is the fact that we’ve shown glimpses of what we can do without being able to fulfil it over 90 minutes.
“We believe that if can start extending some of those periods, we’ll definitely be competitive.
“As I’ve said for a long time now, the A-League is so tight from top to bottom that any team can win any game in any moment.
“But it’s not enough to be good for 20 minutes or 40 minutes or even 50 minutes.
“We have to keep extending that period and I’m sure the result will start coming our way.
“It takes time to embed everything and gel everyone… but we’ve played seven games now and need to make sure that we start winning matches and fulfilling our potential.”
The Jets come into the game three places and four points above Glory having won two of their seven games thus far this term and Stajcic drew parallels between Rob Stanton’s side and his own.
“They are in a similar boat to us,” he said.
“They’ve had some up and down results.
“They had a good one last week, obviously, against Wellington and have some good kids coming through.
“They’ve started gelling and bit like us, they’ve had some good moments and some moments where they’ve let themselves down like when they were up 2-0 against Wanderers and let that lead slip.
“Then against [Melbourne] City, they had some good moments as well but couldn’t capitalise when they could have, otherwise they could have been up against them as well.”
On the injury front, meanwhile, the Head Coach confirmed that defender Aleksandar Susnjar may be available to face the Jets after missing last weekend’s home clash with Melbourne City.
“He’s ok and progressing well,” he said, “and is probably 50/50 to come back into the squad.
“We’ll see how he tracks at training today and tomorrow and make a decision then.”
The Jets enjoyed an eye-catching 3-0 away win over Wellington in Round 7, with Apostolos Stamatelopoulos taking his goal tally for the season to six by bagging a brace and Clayton Taylor also finding the net for the third time this term.
Former Glory quartet Brandon O’Neill, Callum Timmins, Daniel Stynes and Dane Ingham have all featured regularly in the opening stages of the season, but another ex-Glory man, Jacob Dowse, has been sidelined by injury along with French midfielder Jason Berthomier.
No fewer than six of the last eight meetings between the two sides have ended all-square, including the last three which have each produced a 2-2 scoreline.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2023/24 Season Round 8
Newcastle Jets v Perth Glory
McDonald Jones Stadium
Saturday 16 December 2023
Newcastle Jets squad: 1. Ryan SCOTT (GK), 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 (GK), 22. Phil CANCAR, 23. Daniel WILMERING, 25. Carl JENKINSON, 26. Archie GOODWIN, 29. Justin VIDIC, 33. Mark NATTA, 39. Thomas AQUILINA
Ins: Nil
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 11. Jacob DOWSE (injured), 15. Jason BERTHOMIER (injured), 21. Noah JAMES, 27. Nathan GRIMALDI, 37. Lachlan BAYLISS, 66. Zac BOWLING
Perth Glory Squad: 1.Oli SAIL (gk), 2.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS, 3.Jacob MUIR, 5.Mark BEEVERS (co-c), 7.Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 8.Mustafa AMINI, 9.David WILLIAMS, 10.Salim KHELIFI, 12.Luke IVANOVIC, 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 15.Aleksandar SUSNJAR, 17.Jarrod CARLUCCIO, 19.Trent OSTLER, 20.Giordano COLLI, 22.Adam TAGGART (co-c), 23.Daniel BENNIE, 24.Oliver BOZANIC, 27.Jayden GORMAN, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 77.Bruce KAMAU
Two to be omitted
Ins: 15.Aleksandar SUSNJAR, 27.Jayden GORMAN
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 11.Adam ZIMARINO (injured), 14.Riley WARLAND (injured), 21.Antonis MARTIS (injured)
(picture courtesy of Vision Inspired Photography)
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