Glory ALW Head Coach Stephen Peters has called upon his charges to muscle up in Saturday’s vital home clash with Canberra United (kick-off at 5pm, tickets available HERE).
Click HERE to watch his full pre-match media conference.
The women in purple were well beaten by a physical Canberra side when they travelled to the nation’s capital back in Round 4 and have beaten them at home just three times in 16 attempts.
With three points now separating Glory from the top six, Peters believes a robust performance is required to secure what could prove to be a pivotal fifth home win of the season.
“I don’t know exactly the last time that Glory beat Canberra,” he said, “but we don’t have a fantastic record against them and it’s quite a passionate game every time we play them.
“They’ve had the wood on us… so we’ve got to lift, be ready and three points would be huge.
“Canberra is a huge contest for us and we’ve got to make sure we go out and show our personality in this game and not be afraid of [league] tables and the fact that we haven’t beaten Canberra for x amount of time.
“They completely rag-dolled us in that first game.
“That was tough to take and it was a hard game for us, but we learned some valuable lessons there, not necessarily about football, but about fighting for the shirt and we’ve done that against other teams since.
“So hopefully we can showcase that we’ve grown since then and match them in that capacity and then hopefully it turns it into a football contest after that.
“But if we let Canberra steamroll us like we did last time, it’s going to be a very long afternoon for us.”
The race for Finals looks set to go to the wire with only seven points separating second-placed Wellington from eighth-placed Glory, but the Head Coach is reluctant to pay too much attention to the standings.
“Once you start table watching, it becomes very difficult to control the controllables,” he said.
“For us, we’ve just got to think about Canberra and trying to get three points at home.
“Then, all of a sudden, we’re on 20 points and we’re right there.
“It’s a very tight comp and you’ve just got to take your chances when they’re there.”
After suffering consecutive defeats to Wellington and Brisbane, it looked as if Canberra’s title tilt might be faltering, but they responded by reeling off back-to-back wins over Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC and currently sit in third spot, two points behind leaders Melbourne City.
Two ex-Glory players have featured prominently for United this season in the form of Sally James and Liz Anton, while ALW legend Michelle Heyman remains their key attacking threat having scored four goals and claimed three assists.
Antoni Jagarinec’s side have taken a competition-high 247 shots this term, with 90 of those on target and three of their seven wins have come on the road.
Saturday will mark the 34th overall meeting between the two sides and Glory will be aiming to chalk up just their fifth win.
Match Details
Ninja A-League 2025/26 Season Round 17
Perth Glory v Canberra United
Sam Kerr Football Centre
Saturday 14 February 2026
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, 11.Natalie TATHEM, 12.Bronte TREW, 17.Rola BADAWIYA, 19.Sarah O’DONOGHUE, 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: 8.Georgia CASSIDY, 28.Clancy WESTAWAY
Outs: None
Unavailable: 7.Megan WYNNE (injured), 13.Naomi CHINNAMA (injured), 20.Ella ABDUL MASSIH (injured)
Canberra United squad: 1. Sally JAMES, 2. Alex McKENZIE, 5. Jazmin WARDLOW, 6. Josie AULICINO, 7. Emma HAWKINS, 8. Sasha GROVE, 3. Elizabeth ANTON, 10. Mary STANIC-FLOODY, 11. Emma ROBERS, 12. Hayley TAYLOR-YOUNG, 13. Sofia CHRISTOPHERSON, 18. Coco MAJSTOROVIC, 19. Sienna DALE, 23. Michelle HEYMAN, 25. Darcey MALONE, 32. Bethany GORDON, 33. Nanako SASAKI, 44. Ava BRIEDIS
(One to be omitted)
#ONEGlory
ALW Match Preview: Peters calls for Glory to muscle up in Canberra revenge mission
