Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson says his side is determined to take the game to Gold Coast United in a big Saturday night clash at nib Stadium.
Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson says his side is determined to take the game to Gold Coast United in a big Saturday night clash at nib Stadium.
Coming off a 4-0 loss to Brisbane Roar, Ferguson admitted he may have been a little sidetracked last weekend working out ways to stop the all-conquering Roar from claiming their record-breaking 36th unbeaten match.
But Ferguson said he’s not about to make the same mistake twice as he looks to make his side’s home advantage count this weekend.
“We had a good chat about it (last week) and you know, it’s a game that we’re very disappointed in,” said Ferguson on Friday ahead of training.
“But there’s no fluke that they’ve gone 36 games in a row.”
“(Now) we’re going to go out there and obviously worry about ourselves.”
“A bit on my part was, I probably worried too much about Brisbane and what we were trying to do at times (to stop them).”
“This is our home game I want Gold Coast to come here and obviously I want them to worry about us.”
Ferguson acknowledged last-placed Gold Coast still posed a considerable threat as coach Miron Bleiberg’s position at the helm comes under pressure after four consecutive losses.
However, two of those defeats have been 3-2 results against Sydney and Melbourne Victory where United have been right in the contest.
And, with Gold Coast having had a league-best 127 shots at goal so far this season, five more than the second-placed Roar, Ferguson knows his defence will come under real pressure.
“They are sitting bottom of the league and again it’s not obviously the way they’ve been playing,” Ferguson said.
“They’ve been playing attractive football, attacking football but obviously leaking goals down at the other end, so that’s where we can hopefully capitalise on.”
With his defence already missing Chris Coyne (Achilles), Scott Neville (back), Steve Pantelidis (heel) and Evan Berger (hamstring), Ferguson said he will have to play newcomer Trent McClenahan at right back, even though he may not make it through 90 minutes.
However, the side will be boosted by Liam Miller’s return from suspension and also by former Qantas Socceroo Mile Sterjovski, who missed last weekend’s clash to be with his heavily pregnant wife.
With extra firepower at his disposal Ferguson is quietly confident his side can claim maximum points over Gold Coast, but he strenuously denied this was a ‘make or break’ game for the club after five matches without a win.
“We’re still in there, you’re one point away from third place, it’s not make or break,” declared Ferguson.
“It’s important that we get the wins. We definitely want to make sure we get the wins and try and get back to winning ways, that’s important, but it’s not make or break for the league,” he said.
