Head Coach David Zdrilic is backing his Glory charges to take the game to Melbourne City when the two sides meet at HBF Park in Sunday’s ALW/ALM double-header (kick-off at 5:45pm, tickets available HERE).
Click HERE to view his full pre-match media conference
Watch the A-Leagues Match Preview HERE
The men in purple come into the game having dug deep to secure a battling away draw with reigning Champions and Premiers Central Coast Mariners last weekend.
And Zdrilic is quietly confident that they can build upon that performance and secure a first win of the campaign.
“I think the progression from week to week has been really good, especially after the first game,” he said.
“We’re starting to get to a point where I can draw on nearly all the players, not so much starting, but at least having some involvement in the game.
“I think that’s really important for us, as is taking the positives out of the point that we picked up against Central Coast.
“The younger guys are growing in each game and getting hard tests very quickly in the A-League, but I think they’ve learned their lessons and hopefully we’ll see another big step of progression in this game against City.
“We’ve got the foundation to really have a good go at home.”
Sunday’s opponents, meanwhile, are set to be without several of their big names, including injured attacking duo Andrew Nabbout and Marco Tilio, along with suspended Socceroos defender Aziz Behich.
But Zdrilic will certainly not be underestimating the threat posed by Aurelio Vidmar’s men whom they also met in this year’s Australia Cup.
“Melbourne City have a fantastic squad,” he said.
“They’ve got quality everywhere.
“They have a strong mentality, a winning mentality.
“Our approach to the game doesn’t change if they [Nabbout, Tilio and Behich] were in or weren’t in.
“They play the same way and it was exactly the same situation in the [Australia] Cup.
“All the good players were there, but we didn’t care.
“We went and played our game and it’ll be the same at the weekend.”
In terms of Glory’s squad news, meanwhile, the Head Coach confirmed that Nikola Mileusnic and Cristian Caicedo will both be available for selection, but Josh Risdon is not quite fit enough to return.
Sunday will mark Melbourne City’s 20th A-League visit to HBF Park where they have managed just six wins to Glory’s 11.
The most recent of those meetings here in the West took place in February, with Glory claiming a 4-2 victory courtesy of efforts from Mustafa Amini, Adam Taggart and Joel Anasmo, along with a Scott Galloway own-goal.
The visitors have, however, have won both of their away games so far this season, downing the Jets 1-0 in Round One and repeating that scoreline against Western United last weekend.
City’s off-season recruits included two international midfielders in the form of Austrian Andreas Kuen and Israeli Yonatan Cohen, while Socceroo Nathaniel Atkinson has returned to the club after a three-year stint in Scotland with Hearts.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2024/25 Season Round 4
Perth Glory v Melbourne City
HBF Park
Sunday 10 November 2024
Kick-off: 5:45pm WST
Perth Glory squad: 1.Oli SAIL (gk), 5.Lachlan BARR, 6.Brandon O’NEILL, 7.Nicholas PENNINGTON, 9.David WILLIAMS, 10.Nikola MILEUSNIC, 11.Hiroaki AOYAMA, 12.Taras GOMULKA, 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 14.Nathanael BLAIR, 15.Zach LISOLAJSKI, 16.Adam BUGARIJA, 17.Jarrod CARLUCCIO, 20.Trent OSTLER, 21.Abdul FAISAL, 22.Adam TAGGART (c), 23.Cristian CAICEDO, 24.Andriano LEBIB, 26.Khoa NGO, 33.Luis CANGA
(Two to be omitted)
Ins: 10.Nikola MILEUSNIC, 23.Cristian CAICEDO
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 8.Mustafa AMINI (injured), 19.Josh RISDON (injured)
Melbourne City squad: 1. Jamie YOUNG (GK), 2. Callum TALBOT, 6. Steven UGARKOVIC, 7. Mathew LECKIE, 8. James JEGGO, 10. Yonatan COHEN, 13. Nathaniel ATKINSON, 19. Zane SCHREIBER, 22. Germán FERREYRA, 26. Samuel SOUPRAYEN, 27. Kai TREWIN, 30. Andreas KUEN, 33. Patrick BEACH (GK), 35. Medin MEMETI, 38. Harry POLITIDIS, 40. James NIEUWENHUIZEN (GK), 41. Lawrence WONG, 42. Ben DUNBAR, 46. Ben MAZZEO, 47. Kavian RAHMANI
(Two to be omitted)
Ins: 8. James JEGGO (returns from suspension), 40. James NIEUWENHUIZEN, 41. Lawrence WONG, 46. Ben MAZZEO (all promoted)
Outs: 15. Andrew NABBOUT (knee), 23. Marco TILIO (hamstring)
Unavailable: 15. Andrew NABBOUT (knee), 16. Aziz BEHICH (suspension), 17. Max CAPUTO (leg), 20. Arion SULEMANI (calf), 21. Alessandro LOPANE (knee), 23. Marco TILIO (hamstring), 34. Jayden NECOVSKI (knee), 36. Harry SHILLINGTON (ankle), 37. Peter ANTONIOU (ankle), 39. Emin DURAKOVIC (hamstring)
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