Glory Head Coach Alen Stajcic has backed his side to produce a strong response to last week’s bitterly disappointing defeat at the hands of Melbourne City.
The men in purple return to action on Sunday when Western United will provide the opposition in what is the club’s final home game of the Isuzu UTE A-League season (kick-off at 3pm, tickets available HERE).
And Stajcic believes the players will be desperate to make amends for what transpired at AAMI Park.
View his full pre-match media conference HERE.
View skipper Adam Taggart’s pre-match media conference HERE.
“One of the qualities you need, not just in sport, but in life, is resilience, so it’s a real test of every individual’s character now, let alone the team,” he said.
“We’ve got to bounce back up and be ready to fight.
“There are all emotional and mental things, but there’s also a lot of football things as well.
“We’ve got two choices; lie down and die or stand up and fight.
“You always get knocked down in sport and in life, so it’s a matter of getting up now and showing your will-power and grit and willingness to fight for everything; your family, yourself and obviously the club as well.
“It’s obviously a massive hit to your pride and to you ego, so they have two choices.
“They can keep rolling with those hits and lie down and say I can’t fight anymore, or they can stand up and say I’m going to prove that was an anomaly, that’s not me and it doesn’t characterise me.
“But you’ve got to prove that.
“Words are easy, words are cheap.
“You have to show it in action.”
The Head Coach went on to praise the Glory Shed Supporters Club Tour of Duty group who provided great backing at AAMI Park despite the on-field performance.
“When you’re a fan, you’re a fan and you support through thick and thin,” he said.
“Our supporters have done that.
“The amount of supporters there, I think they almost outnumbered Melbourne City, so it was particularly sad to lose like that when they’ve travelled and spent so much of their hard-earned time to support us.
“It’s a tough time for the players.
“We all know the players love hearing the vibe of the crowd and it’s a massive fact in helping us turn it around, getting their support and knowing that it’s unwavering.”
Turning his attentions to Sunday, Stajcic went on to reiterate his belief that Western United are, on their day, an extremely tough opponent.
“They’re a good team,” he said.
“I’ve felt that their position all the way through [the season] has sort of belied how well they’ve played.
“I certainly think they’re one of the better teams in the league on the ball and have so many threats in different parts of the field.
“It’s not just up front; they’ve got good attacking players from the back like [Ben] Garuccio, who has probably been the best left-back in the competition this year and other players who are just a constant threat.
“They play good attacking football, but like a bit like us and Adelaide… they have let themselves down with defensive lapses at times and that’s why them, Adelaide and ourselves are down towards the bottom of the ladder.
“There are a lot of good qualities in both teams [Glory and Western United] and then there’s that fragility in both teams, but I’ve got a lot of respect for the way they’ve played this year.”
United will arrive in Perth off the back of a 3-3 midweek draw with Adelaide United with leaves them one place and one point above Glory in 11th.
John Aloisi’s side have won just once on their travels this term, but only Adelaide United have got the better of them in their last seven outings.
Unfortunately for the visitors, they are likely to be without a number of their better performers this weekend as Daniel Penha, who has scored seven goals and added three assists and Noah Botic, who has found the net both times, are both injured.
United have enjoyed eight wins to Glory’s two in the 11 overall meetings between the two clubs, but only one of those victories has come here in the West.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2023/24 Season Round 25
Perth Glory v Western United
HBF Park
Sunday 21 April 2024
Kick-off: 3pm
Perth Glory squad:Â 1.Oli SAIL (gk), 2.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS, 3.Jacob MUIR, 7.Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 8.Mustafa AMINI, 9.David WILLIAMS, 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, 28.Kaelan MAJEKODUNMI, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 30.Robert COOK (gk), 31.Joel ANASMO, 36.Khoa NGO, 77.Bruce KAMAU
One to be omitted
Ins:Â 8.Mustafa AMINI, 15.Aleksandar SUSNJAR
Outs:Â Nil
Unavailable:Â 5.Mark BEEVERS (injured), 11.Adam ZIMARINO (injured), 13.Cameron COOK (gk) (International Duty), 21.Antonis MARTIS (injured)
Western United squad: 1. Tom HEWARD-BELLE (gk), 4. James DONACHIE, 6. Tomoki IMAI, 8. Lachie WALES, 9. Michael RUHS, 10. Steven LUSTICA, 17. Ben GARUCCIO, 21. Sebastian PASQUALI, 24. Connor O’TOOLE, 29. Charbel SHAMOON, 32. Angus THURGATE, 33. Matt SUTTON (gk), 36. Zach LISOLAJSKI, 37. Luke VICKERY, 39. Matthew GRIMALDI, 41. Oliver LAVALE, 44. Jordan LAUTON, 45. Abel WALATEE, 49. Jake NAJDOVSKI, 77. Riku DANZAKI
Ins:Â 29. Charbel SHAMOON (promoted), 37. Luke VICKERY, 44. Jordan LAUTON
Outs:Â 43. Khoder KADDOUR (injured)
Unavailable:Â 7. Ramy NAJJARINE (injured), 11. Daniel PENHA (injured), 13. Nikita RUKAVYTSYA (injured), 22. Kane VIDMAR (injured), 27. Jacob TRATT (injured), 38. Noah BOTIC (injured), 42. Rhys BOZINOVSKI (injured)
#ONEGlory
