Glory Liberty A-League Head Coach Alex Epakis is quietly confident that his in-form charges can make history on Saturday by securing what would the club’s first ever away win over Canberra United (kick-off at 1pm WST, available live and free on 10Play).
13 previous trips to the capital have ended without the visitors managing to secure maximum points, making it Glory’s least successful ALW away venue by some distance.
But with the women in purple brimming with confidence having opened the new campaign with back-to-back wins, Epakis believes they are more than capable of breaking the hoodoo.
View his full pre-match media conference HERE.
“It’s crazy [Glory’s record in Canberra],” he said.
“For us, the focus is that if we play well enough… and do our jobs, we should win.
“That’s the way I look at it with every fixture.
“That hoodoo is something that if we do our jobs well enough ,we’ll break it and if we’re not good enough on the day, we won’t.
“We’re pretty focused on making sure that we come away with all three points.”
With both Liz Anton and Isobel Dalton poised to return from injury, Glory will fly east with virtually a clean bill of health and Epakis acknowledged that as a result, he will have some tough selection decisions to make.
“We’re lucky because we’re still sitting with a full squad,” he said.
“We have some players that are ready to compete for their positions, but we’ve also had a great start to the season, so for me it’s headaches and I can’t deny it or hide that fact.
“The players’ output at training has been really competitive and they are fighting really hard internally for positions.
“It’s a really great place to be and we’ve just got to see how it plays out over the next few days heading into the game.”
In contrast to Glory, Canberra are yet to secure a win having drawn with Adelaide before losing to Melbourne City, but there is no danger of Epakis underestimating his former club or his counterpart in the home dugout, Njegosh Popovich.
“I think they’re playing some really good football and have a lot of threats, especially across their front three and in midfield,” he said.
“They probably haven’t had the start they wanted, but Njegosh is a fantastic and experienced coach, so I know he’ll be wanting more, as will the playing group.
“I’m sure he’ll have them prepared and ready for this upcoming fixture.”
There is also no danger of Glory’s Head Coach allowing his players to rest on their laurels despite their current position at the top of the embryonic ALW table.
“I’m really clear on how I want us to play and the players are taking that information on board,” he said.
“There are parts of our game right now that we’re really happy with, but we need to continue to chase improvements in other areas and we’re always chasing the perfect performance.
“You’ll never have that perfect performance, but if that’s a goal, the open-mindedness, the growth and the focus around that, means that we’re challenging ourselves to get better week in, week out.
“So that’s the driving force for us.
“It’s about how far can this team evolve across the course of the season and what can a perfect game look like for us.
“Especially this early in the season, teams are probably still trying to find their own way as well and I’m not reading too much into it [the league table].
“Certainly, I’m really pleased with where we’re sitting, but just like I keep stressing that we still have a lot of growth and improvement in our squad, I know the other clubs will be saying the same thing about their teams.
“By the time we get Round 4 or 5, we’ll start to see a clearer picture of where all the teams in the competition are at, but at this time, we just need to keep chasing that perfect performance.”
Glory’s two most recent trips to McKellar Park have ended 2-2 and 3-3 respectively, thereby upholding the fixture’s high-scoring tradition, with the last 15 meetings yielding a remarkable aggregate of 63 goals.
The home side’s main goal threat on Saturday will be provided by veteran former Matilda Michelle Heyman who has already scored two from two this term, along with Vesna Milivojevic who has also hit the net twice this year after claiming eight goals and three assists last season.
Match Details
Liberty A-League 2023/24 Season Round 3
Canberra United v Perth Glory
McKellar Park
Saturday 4 November 2023
Kick-off: 1pm WST (4pm Local)
Canberra United squad: 1. Chloe LINCOLN, 2. Alex MCKENZIE, 4. Holly MURRAY, 5. Emma ILIJOSKI, 6. Ava PIAZZA 7. Maria ROJAS, 8. Sasha GROVE, 9. Ruby NATHAN, 10. Mary STANIC-FLOODY, 11. Deven JACKSON, 13. Sofia CHRISTOPHERSON, 14. Maia CAMERON 15. Hannah MCNULTY 16. Maddy WHITTALL 17. Vesna MILIVOJEVIC, 18. Coco MAJSTOROVIC 19. Nickoletta FLANNERY, 22. Cannon CLOUGH, 23. Michelle HEYMAN, 28. Tegan BERTOLISSIO
Four to be omitted
Ins: Nil
Outs: Michaela THORNTON, Georgia RITCHIE, Hayley TAYLOR-YOUNG
Perth Glory squad: 1.Morgan AQUINO (GK), 3.Jessika COWART, 4.Natasha RIGBY (c), 7.Liz ANTON, 8.Hana LOWRY, 9.Millie FARROW, 10.Susan PHONSONGKHAM, 11.Grace JALE, 12.Sofia SAKALIS, 13.Sarah CAIN, 14.Tia STONEHILL, 17.Abbey GREEN, 18.Sadie LAWRENCE, 19.Izzy FOLETTA, 20.Quinley QUEZADA, 21.Claudia MIHOCIC, 23.Isobel DALTON, 24.Sally JAMES (GK), 25.Grace JOHNSTON, 27.Georgia CASSIDY
Four to be omitted
Ins: 7.Liz ANTON, 13.Sarah CAIN, 14.Tia STONEHILL, 23.Isobel DALTON
Outs: Nil
#ONEGlory
