Glory ALW Head Coach Stephen Peters is calling on his charges to retain their performance levels and back themselves in Sunday’s Round 8 showdown with Adelaide United at Sam Kerr Football Centre (kick-off at 5pm, tickets available HERE).
Click HERE to view his full pre-match media conference.
The women in purple returned to winning ways in courageous style last Friday as they ground out a hard-fought home win over Wellington Phoenix, with Susan Phonsongkham’s second-half “Olimpico” effort proving the difference between the two sides.
And now Peters is aiming to retain that defensive intensity, while adding a greater level of creativity and penetration in the final third.
“We’ve got to find that consistency,” he said
“It’s something we’re yearning for and something that’s important to us.
“Now we’ve got the feeling of what we can produce with that kind of effort, hopefully everyone feels that they’re compelled to do that.
“That’s what we’re looking for and we believe that if we do that, we put ourselves in any contest against any opponent.
“With the ball, we’ve got to settle and play the kind of football we’re capable of producing.
“There have been some moments this season when we’ve played some good stuff and we just have to trust that in the attacking phase.
“I think it’s a confidence thing and I feel we just need to find that performance that brings it out of a couple of key personnel and then I think the confidence will build off the back of that.”
The Head Coach went on to confirm that no fresh injury concerns emerged from the Wellington game and that the nine-day turnaround between back-to-back home games has also assisted the likes of Izzy Dalton, Emma Tovar and Georgia Cassidy as they look to build back up to full match fitness.
“We’ve had an opportunity to de-load a few people and look after the ones we need to look after and turn up the heat on a couple of others,” he said.
“It’s been good.
“It’s a tremendous help… it gives us an opportunity to get people closer to where they need to be and hopefully at some stage we’ll be 100% fully fit.”
In terms of Sunday’s opponents, meanwhile, Peters is in no doubt about the kind of challenge they will present despite their lowly position on the ladder.
“As far as I’m concerned, Adelaide have always been a very physical team,” he said, “and I think they’ve got a memory of their game here last year [a 3-1 defeat] and they’ll definitely have that in their IP.
“I think their game against Melbourne Victory on the weekend [a 1-0 defeat] was a much-improved performance and I think they’ll be a lot happier with that defensively.
“They’re going to be coming here ready to compete for three points and we’ve got to be ready for that.
“We can’t be complacent because we’ve won one game and just think that the next opponents are going to be easy-beats, because it definitely doesn’t work like that in this league.
“Everyone is competitive.
“From last to first, anyone can beat anyone on their day and we just have to make sure that we’re having more good days than bad.”
United have tasted victory just once this season, but it did come at the expense of current ladder leaders Canberra United who were downed 2-1 at Service FM Stadium in Round 3.
Theo Tsiounis’ side are the joint-lowest scorers in the competition with three goals, one of which was supplied by Ireland international Erin Healy who found the net on seven occasions last term.
Other players to look out for in the visitors’ ranks include highly-rated former Melbourne Victory midfielder Paige Zois, and the talented Taranto twins, Melissa and Adriana.
Glory have won 15 of the previous 29 meetings between the two sides, with Adelaide claiming maximum points on 11 occasions and the Reds have been beaten on three of their last four visits to Perth.
Match Details
Ninja A-League 2025-26 Season Round 8
Perth Glory v Adelaide United
Sam Kerr Football Centre
Sunday 21 December 2025
Kick-off: 5pm
Perth Glory Squad: 1.Teresa MORRISSEY (gk), 2.Mischa ANDERSON, 3.Emma TOVAR, 5.Grace JOHNSTON, 6.Tijan MCKENNA, 8.Georgia CASSIDY, 9.Gabby HOLLAR, 10.Susan PHONSONGKHAM, 12.Bronte TREW, 17.Rola BADAWIYA, 19.Sarah O’DONOGHUE, 22.Ischia BROOKING, 23.Isobel DALTON (c), 24.Julia SARDO, 25.Ella LINCOLN, 27.Charli WAINWRIGHT, 28.Clancy WESTAWAY, 29.Onyinyechi ZOGG, 30.Jessica SKINNER (gk)
(Two to be omitted)
Ins: 22.Ischia BROOKING, 27.Charli WAINWRIGHT
Outs: None
Unavailable: 7.Megan WYNNE (injured), 11.Natalie TATHEM (injured), 13.Naomi CHINNAMA (injured), 20.Ella ABDUL MASSIH (injured)
Adelaide United squad: 2.Emily HODGSON, 3.Matilda MCNAMARA, 4.Holly MURRAY, 5.Sarah MORGAN, 6.Melissa TARANTO, 7.Emilia MAKRIS, 8.Emily CONDON, 9.Paige ZOIS, 10.Chelsie DAWBER, 11.Isabel HODGSON, 12.Carina ROSSI, 13.Ella TONKIN, 15.Adriana TARANTO, 17.Zoe TOLLAND, 21.Claudia JENKINS, 22.Erin HEALY, 25.Lara GOOCH, 27.Sian DEWEY, 30.Ilona MELEGH
In: 5.Sarah MORGAN (Promoted), 27.Sian DEWEY (Promoted)
Out: 23.Fiona WORTS (Unavailable)
Unavailable: 16.Dylan HOLMES (Fracture), 19. Katie BOWLER (Quad), 23.Fiona WORTS (Family Commitment)
#ONEGlory
ALW Match Preview: Confidence and consistency the keys for Peters ahead of Adelaide clash
