Perth Glory FC coach Kenny Lowe has stressed the team’s away from will dictate whether or not his troops can march into the finals series in April.
Aiming for its third win on the trot, Perth Glory travels to Wellington this weekend in what is shaping up to be a season defining match-up.
Glory will make the trek across The Ditch in round 2 of the Long Distance Derby Cup in New Zealand, riding high on confidence after a thrilling 3-2 win over Hyundai A-League Champions
“We’ve had a little in-house chat and we’ve said if we want to do anything we’ve got to win games away from home, touch wood our home form’s been ok “ Lowe said.
“It’s like I said when I came into the club if we change our away form we’ll be a finals team and I think we only lost one game away last year. Between now and then if we change the away form we’ve got a chance, but let’s see how we go this weekend” he said.
Last time the two teams met was in ROUND 2 at nib Stadium. The visitors walked away with the three points after Glory was reduced to 10 men in the dying minutes of the match when scores were locked at 1-1.
Captain Richard Garcia and defender Aryn Williams will miss this weekend due to injury.
Lowe revealed Bunbury born Josh Risdon will likely wear the captain’s armband again, for the fifth time this year.
He said Risdon was an obvious choice.
He’s a club MVP. A Socceroo, he’s been in the Hyundai A-League All -Star team, he’s got 100 odd games and he’s a WA boy…and he’s a top kid” Lowe exclaimed.
The match will kick-off at 12pm WST at Westpac Stadium on Sunday February 7.
Glory will stay in Wellington until next Friday before flying to Sydney to take on the Sky Blues at Allianz Stadium next Saturday night (February 12).
Perth returns to nib Stadium to host Brisbane Roar on February 20.
Perth Glory v Wellington: STATS
- The score line in each of the last four clashes between these teams has been 2-1, with each team registering two wins over that period.
- After scoring nine goals on their way to wins in their last two matches Perth will be looking for a third straight win for the first time since December 2014.
- Perth Glory will be aiming for consecutive away wins for the first time this season after they snared their first road win of the year in a 6-1 rout of Newcastle.
- Wellington have lost their last three A-League fixtures by 3-1 each and they’ve not scored more than once in a match since Round 9.
- Phoenix have conceded more goals in the opening 15 minutes of A-League games this season than any other team (6).
MATCH DETAILS
Sunday, 7 February 2016
Wellington Phoenix v Perth Glory
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Kick-Off: 5:00 PM (Local) (3:00 PM (AEDT)
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Lount
Assistant Referee 2: Glen Lochrie
Fourth Official: Jonathan Barreiro
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 3.00pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 3 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast: 720 ABC Perth, ABC Local Radio WA, Grandstand Digital, Online & via the ABC Radio Mobile App – A-league Live.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #WELvPER
Wellington Phoenix squad : 1.Glen MOSS (GK), 2.Manny MUSCAT, 3.Justin GULLEY, 4.Roly BONEVACIA, 5.Troy DANASKOS, 6.Dylan FOX, 8.Alex RODRIGUEZ, 10.Michael MCGLINCHEY, 11.Kwabena APPIAH, 12.Blake POWELL, 15.James MCGARRY, 16.Louis FENTON, 19.Tom DOYLE, 20.Lewis ITALIANO (GK), 22.Andrew DURANTE (c), 23.Matthew RIDENTON, 28.Joel STEVENS
**one to be omitted**
Ins: 22.Andrew DURANTE (returns from suspension), 23.Matthew RIDENTON (returns from injury)
Outs: 13.Albert RIERA (suspended)
Unavailable: 14.Alex RUFER (broken leg – season), 17.Vince LIA (knee – 2-3 weeks), 18.Ben SIGMUND (hip – 1-2 weeks), 21.Roy KRISHNA (ankle – 10-12 weeks)
Perth Glory squad: 1.Ante COVIC (gk), 2.Alex GRANT, 3.Marc WARREN, 4.Shane LOWRY, 7.Gyorgy SANDOR, 9.Andy KEOGH, 10.Nebojsa MARINKOVIC, 12.Jerrad TYSON (gk), 13.Diogo FERREIRA, 14.Chris HAROLD, 15.Hagi GLIGOR, 17.Diego CASTRO, 18.Mitch OXBORROW, 19.Josh RISDON, 23.Krisztian VADOCZ, 24.Jamal REINERS, 25.Jacob COLLARD, 28.Joe KNOWLES
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 15.Hagi GLIGOR (promoted), 23.Krisztian VADOCZ (pending sports visa), 25.Jacob COLLARD (promoted), 28.Joe KNOWLES (promoted)
Outs: 11.Richard Garcia (knee – 1 week), 29.Aryn WILLIAMS (hamstring – 1 week)
Unavailable: 6.Dino DJULBIC (4-6 weeks), 8.Ruben ZADKOVICH (knee – indefinite)
