Perth Glory star Jamie Harnwell has put his hand up for selection against Queensland on Sunday afternoon after overcoming a strained hip that kept him out of the club’s last start.
Perth Glory star Jamie Harnwell has put his hand up for selection against Queensland on Sunday afternoon after overcoming a strained hip that kept him out of the club-s last start.
Harwell has trained strongly and looked lively in the club-s final few sessions this week giving Coach Dave Mitchell something to think about in his calculations against the Roar.
“When he-s up and going Jamie is a very damaging player and does a job for us no matter what we ask of him,” Mitchell said.
Adept at either end of the ground, Harnwell-s inclusion would be a big positive for Perth who are looking to secure their first win of the season however Mitchell said he wouldn-t be rushed into bring back his ace player too early.
“Jamie is someone we need out there over the long term and I want to make sure he is going to be one hundred percent and I won’t take any risks,” said Mitchell.
Pre-season hip surgery and an unrelated strain in the same area have compounded to keep Harnwell out of action aside from a late substitutes appearance against Newcastle in the club-s heart stopping round two draw.
The 31 year old said it has been frustrating watching from the sidelines especially since arriving back in WA on a high following a successful off-season European sojourn where he helped Liechtenstein side FC Vaduz to the championship.
“When I was in Europe I was playing well and in a great frame of mind,” Harnwell said.
“I came back and rejoined Glory-s pre-season and things were going well but then had to have an operation on my hip. To do that and then see us struggle at the start of the season has been pretty frustrating.
“Hopefully I-m over the worst of it now and moving on it-ll be a clean bill of health.”
Despite a tough start for the Glory this season, Harnwell is optimistic about the club-s prospects and said there was a positive feeling in the change rooms about what the squad can achieve.
“I-ve been through enough seasons now to know that you might have a couple of bad games, a couple of mistakes and you think the whole world is against you. You only need to have one good game, you keep a clean sheet and suddenly you-re right back on top again,” Harnwell said.
The Glory-s leading goal scorer in the past two season-s Harnwell believes the club-s attack is looking great shape and that their early defensive woes can be corrected.
“Last season we weren-t scoring regularly but now we-re scoring goals and unfortunately letting a few but I think that-s an easier problem to fix than the other way around,” he said.
