Glory Coach Dave Mitchell will inject several fresh faces into his squad as he searches for the right mix in a bid to topple league leaders Melbourne Victory at Telstra Dome on Saturday afternoon.
Glory Coach Dave Mitchell will inject several fresh faces into his squad as he searches for the right mix in a bid to topple league leaders Melbourne Victory at Telstra Dome on Saturday afternoon.
Perth have added speed to their squad with left sided specialist Nick Rizzo and Jimmy Downey coming into the team, while hard running defender Jeff Bright has also been named.
Exciting young goal keeper Tando Velaphi could take up the starting position between the posts after impressing for the Glory Youth Team last weekend.
“I have reviewed the footage from the youth match and he played very well,” Mitchell said of Velaphi.
“I haven-t decided what I-m doing in the ‘keeper stakes, but he-s looking very good,” Mitchell added.
Long time Glory custodian Jason Petkovic won-t make the trip while James Robinson is the other exclusion at this point after suffering an abdominal injury. Mitchell will still need to cull his extended squad to 15 players before departing for Melbourne on Friday morning.
Glory and Victory are coming off losses last weekend and will be eager to secure the three points on offer. Both sides also have several players out through injury or suspension however Mitchell believes Melbourne will pose Perth-s biggest test so far this season.
“It-s an important game for us and after last weeks performance we want to go and put in a good performance,” Mitchell said.
“Melbourne has depth in their squad and several players that haven-t played a lot as yet so I-m sure they-ll be keen to get in and show they deserve a spot.
“They probably have the strongest strike force in the league and it-ll be a massive job to handle them. If we can do that then we-ve got a good chance of getting something from the match.
“It has been tough dealing with injuries and suspensions but our boys who are coming into the side will put in a good effort and I-m sure they-ll show plenty of spirit this week,” Mitchell said.
Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory
Saturday 4 October 2008 at Telstra Dome
Kick off 3.00pm AWST
Referee: Strebre Delovski
Match Radio Broadcast on 6PR 882am – click here to listen
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 2 and Sky Sport 2.
Perth Glory Squad: 2.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 3.David TARKA, 4.Jamie COYNE (c), 5.Jamie HARNWELL, 7.Nick RIZZO, 9.Adrian TRINIDAD, 11.Scott BULLOCH, 13.Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, 14.Eugene DADI, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO, 17.James DOWNEY, 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI, 20.Frank JURIC (gk), 22.Wayne SRHOJ, 26.Jeff BRIGHT, 27.Stuart McLAREN, 30.Tando VELAPHI (gk).
* two to be omitted.
In: Jeff BRIGHT (promoted), James DOWNEY (return from injury), Nick RIZZO (promoted), Tando VELAPHI (promoted).
Out: James ROBINSON (abdominal injury – 10 weeks), Jason PETKOVIC (omitted)
Unavailable: AMARAL (hamstring – 1 week), Dino DJULBIC (suspended – 2 weeks), Hayden FOXE (foot – 1 week), Josip MAGDIC (ankle – season).
Melbourne Victory Squad: 2.Kevin MUSCAT (Captain), 4.Steven PACE, 7.Matthew KEMP, 8.Grant BREBNER, 9.Danny ALLSOPP, 10.Archie THOMPSON, 12.Rodrigo VARGAS, 14.Billy CELESKI, 15.Tom PONDELJAK, 17.Jose Luis LOPEZ, 18. Leigh BROXHAM, 19.Evan BERGER, 20.Mitchell LANGERAK (gk), 22.Nick WARD, 24.Mathew THEODORE, 40.Lou ACEVSKI (gk)
*one to be omitted.
In: Steven PACE (promoted), Nick WARD (return from injury), 24.Mathew THEODORE (promoted from Youth).
Out: Michael THWAITE (ankle – 3 weeks), Carlos HERNANDEZ (suspended – 1 match).
Unavailable: NEY FABIANO (suspended – 4 matches), Michael THEOKLITOS (suspended – 1 match), Sebastian RYALL (international duty – 2 weeks), Nathan ELASI (international duty – 2 weeks).
