Head Coach Alex Epakis believes that his Glory side are well-placed to continue their push for finals football in Thursday’s Liberty A-League showdown with Adelaide United at Central Coast Stadium (kick-off at 2.05pm).
View the full media conference HERE.
Now unbeaten in four games, the women in purple will be out to avenge their New Year’s Day defeat against the Reds who currently sit two places and three points above them in third.
And Epakis likes their chances of doing exactly that.
“We’re fixated on the idea of finishing as high as we can,” he said.
“We’re really comfortable where we’re heading and how we’re doing it and that continues to be the focus.
“This year was always about us and about us being better than last year and about us getting a group together that really wanted to maximise their football and build something.
“We just wanted to be the best versions of ourselves this year and put on performances that we were proud of.
“If that results in top-four, then great… but for me it’s about us building something that’s sustainable long-term and playing a style of football that the players enjoying playing and that we believe in.”
While admitting his frustration at his charges conceding two late set-piece goals in last weekend’s draw with Canberra United, Epakis believes that the positives far outweigh the negatives in terms of the squad’s overall current form.
“We’re undefeated in the last four games and we take a lot of confidence from that.,” he said.
“Where we’ve come from 12 months ago to where we are now is an extreme achievement in itself.
“I will always pinpoint areas that we can be better in and in the last match it would have been set-pieces.
“But we’ve also scored six goals in the last two games and if you look at it through that lens, we’re doing really well.
“It’s frustrating the way in which we did concede the goals, but we’re confident in what we’re doing.
“We’ve got a certain style, we’re sticking to it and it’s working.
“We’re competing with some really experienced sides and the focus is just on us doing what we do better.”
In terms of injury news, the Head Coach confirmed that he will again be without the services of a number of players due to COVID-19, while Liz Anton’s international call-up for New Zealand means the in-form central defender will not feature either.
“We’ve got a couple now in isolation due to COVID who won’t be involved on Thursday,” he said.
“Some get out on Thursday, but they haven’t trained all week and we have to make sure that we’re looking after the players.
“They have to go and see the doctor and get clearance before they return to the field and what we’ve seen from some of the ones that have had COVID is that they’re not ready physically to get back to training.
“It takes some of them a week or two to get confident and comfortable running again.”
Forward Susan Phonsongkham is, however, expected to return from injury in time to face the Reds.
Since defeating Glory last month, Adelaide have enjoyed further wins over Canberra, Wellington, Western Sydney and Newcastle, while their only defeat this calendar year has come against second-placed Melbourne City.
Thursday will mark the 23rd meeting between the two clubs, with Glory having secured 12 wins to Adelaide’s seven, although the South Australians are unbeaten in the seven most recent of those clashes.
(picture courtesy of Aptitude Photography)
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