Coach Chris Coyne believes that the PGFC Academy First Team squad is in a good place ahead of Friday’s opening game of the 2022 NPL WA Night Series against Gwelup Croatia at E&D Litis Stadium (kick-off at 6.30pm).
Pre-season saw many of the Academy players training with the First Team squad, as well as making their senior debuts for the club in the FFA Cup clash with Melbourne Victory.
And Coyne believes those experiences will stand the youngsters in good stead for the Night Series and beyond.
“I’ve been very pleased with the lads,” he said.
“We’ve not had one bad day [in pre-season] and their attitude and application has been excellent.
“Having a taste of that Melbourne Victory game has made them even hungrier for the pursuit of a professional career.”
Coyne went on to confirm that there will be plenty of familiar faces in the Glory side on Friday evening and that they certainly won’t be lacking for motivation.
“We haven’t lost anyone; we’ve just recruited,” he said.
“We were a little bit thin on the ground last year and we’ve been able to strengthen the squad further which is good.
“They went over and played Melbourne Victory and did really well, so the players have generally picked themselves.
“These [Night Series] games are really to get the lads ready in case they’re needed for the A-League squad.
“We want to develop them, make them strong enough and fit enough and ready to go if required by Richie [Garcia] over east.”
Glory will be up against a Gwelup side that finished 10th in the NPL WA last term, with ECU Joondalup, Bayswater City, Stirling Macedonia and Floreat Athena making up the rest of the teams in Group B.
The top two will progress to the Semi-Finals which will be played on Sunday 6 March, with the Final set for Saturday 12 March.
#OneGlory
(picture courtesy of Tom McCarthy)
