Glory Head Coach David Zdrilic believes his charges will be in confident mood when they step out at Darwin’s Larrakia Park for Tuesday’s Hahn Australia Cup 2025 Final Round PlayOff against Central Coast Mariners (kick-off at 5:30pm WST, 7pm local time, watch live and FREE on 10Play).
Click HERE to view his full pre-match media conference
The men in purple will travel north having won two of their final three A-League fixtures, with the most recent of those victories coming away at Wellington last weekend.
And Zdrilic sees no reason why they cannot maintain that positive trajectory against a Mariners side which claimed maximum points only once in the second half of the A-League campaign.
“It was a good trip to New Zealand and there were a lot of positives to take out of that at the back end of the season,” he said.
“We’ve won two of the last three, that’s the first time we’ve been able to say that this season, so we’re taking that into this last game and we want to win it.
“We’re now playing the way we wanted to play weeks ago and we’re getting the results now, which is obviously important.
“Hopefully, in this last game of the season, we can play the same way we have in the last three games.
“Going into this game, we’ve got confidence now that we haven’t had throughout the whole season.”
The Head Coach went on to emphasise the importance of the club securing a place in the Round of 32, while noting that Glory will need to be aware of the Mariners’ tactical versatility.
“It’s not just winning a game; it’s making sure that we qualify for the Cup,” he said, “so there’s a lot riding on it and we really want to win it.
“They [the Mariners] have played a couple of different ways.
“The way they played against us here at home was different to the way they played when we went over there, so we’ll see how that works out.
“At home I thought we were very dominant and created a lot of chances and we feel we should have won that game.
“Even away from home, I thought we were very good and still ended up losing that game.
“So we’re confident that we can match the Mariners.
“They’ve had a tough year by their standards as well, so there’s that backdrop, but for us, we’ve won two out of the last three and we’re taking that confidence into this game.”
Zdrilic went on to confirm how much Glory enjoyed being in Darwin for the corresponding 2024 PlayOff fixture against Brisbane Roar.
“The whole feeling about being in Darwin last year was good,” he said.
“It’s a nice city and and a nice venue to do it in.
“Let’s see what the temperature gives us this time because it wasn’t too hot when we played last time.
“It could be different conditions this time, but we’ll take that into account and it’ll be a good match and a good atmosphere up there.”
In terms of early team news, meanwhile, a bruised heel is again set to rule out defender Josh Risdon, while Nicholas Pennington and Lachie Wales will also be unavailable due to injury.
Tuesday’s opponents finished 10th in the A-League this term, winning five of their 26 games.
Alou Kuol was their top scorer with four goals, while teenager Dylan Peraic-Cullen established himself as one the best goalkeeping prospects in the competition, Lucas Mauragis also impressed and Brazilian midfielder Mikael Doka claimed the club’s player of the year award.
This year marks Glory’s fifth appearance in the Australia Cup Final Round Playoffs, with last season’s win over Brisbane Roar ending a run of three consecutive defeats.
The clash in the NT will also be the fourth time that Zdrilic’s side have faced the Mariners this year, with the previous three meetings yielding two draws and a win for the men in yellow and blue.
While the Australia Cup has not been kind to Glory in recent years, the club did manage to reach the first two Finals played in 2014 and 2015, while the Mariners also finished as runners-up in 2021.
Match Details
Hahn Australia Cup 2025 Final Round PlayOff
Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory
Darwin Stadium, Larrakia Park
Tuesday 13 May 2025
Kick-off: 5:30pm WST (7pm Local Time)
#ONEGlory
