Head Coach Ruben Zadkovich is confident that his playing group is in good shape and set to show further improvement in Sunday’s Round 3 away clash with Central Coast Mariners (kick-off at 2pm WST/5pm Local).
View his full pre-match media conference HERE.
The men in purple were denied a first point of the campaign by a late sucker-punch from Newcastle Jets last weekend having looked far more cohesive and dangerous than had been the case in Round One.
And Zadkovich believes that his charges will continue to move in the right direction when they take on a Mariners side also looking for its first win of the season.
“The boys are looking sharp and they’ve been training well,” he said.
“Last week we had enough chances to win the game.
“We had more shots on target, more penalty box entries and had the better off it in the boxes.
“We just need to keep improving.
“We’re in that building phase and are still in our infancy as a group.
“It’s going to take time, but we’ll just keep working hard.
“I keep saying to the guys that my belief doesn’t waver and neither should theirs.
“You need to stay really resolute in your beliefs and continue to work really hard and that’s what they’re doing.
“It’s just a matter of finding the right balance and the right combinations between players; that’s really important.
“We need to make sure that we’re focusing on each game on its merits and that we’re super-competitive first and foremost.
“The longer our structures and processes are in place, the wins will start to follow.”
While quietly confident of coming out on the positive side of the ledger this weekend, the Head Coach is certainly not underestimating the Mariners who gained a creditable away draw with Wellington in their only game of the season so far.
“Central Coast are a good side,” he said.
“They’re tough and physical and work really hard and are quite attacking.
“They’ve got some subtle intricacies to the way they create chances, so we’ll need to be on our toes defensively first and foremost and we need to keep improving with the ball as we did from Round One to Round Two and hopefully grow again and create a few more chances.”
In terms of early team news, meanwhile, David Williams (illness) is Glory’s only confirmed new absentee, while the hosts will welcome Garang Kuol and Nectarios Triantis back from Young Socceroos duty and Daniel Hall from suspension.
Glory are unbeaten on their last five trips to Gosford, picking up three wins and two draws and the three most recent meetings between the two clubs have all ended all square.
Match Details
ISUZU UTE A-League 2022/23 Season Round 3
Sunday 23 October 2022
Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory
Central Coast Stadium
Kick-off: 2pm (WST), 5pm Local
Central Coast squad: 2.Thomas AQUILINA, 3.Brian KALTAK, 4.Joshua NISBET, 6.Maximilien BALARD, 7.Samuel SILVERA, 9.Jason CUMMINGS, 11.Beni NKOLOLO, 13.Harrison STEELE, 14.Garang KUOL, 15.Storm ROUX, 17.Kelechi JOHN, 18.Jacob FARRELL, 20.Daniel VUKOVIC (c), (gk), 21.Michael RUHS, 23.Daniel Hall, 24.Yaren SOZER (gk), 25.Nectarios TRIANTIS, 29.Dor JOK, 90.Paul AYONGO, 98.MARCO TULIO
In: 14.Garang KUOL (return from international duty), 23.Daniel HALL (return from suspension), 25.Nectarios TRIANTIS (return from international duty)
Out: 22.Cameron WINDUST (not selected), James Bayliss (not selected), Sasha Kuzevski (not selected)
Unavailable: 10.Matheus MORESCHE (injured), 26.Bradley TAPP (injured)
Perth Glory squad: 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 2.John KOUTROUMBIS, 5.Mark BEEVERS, 6.Aaron MCENEFF, 7.Ryan WILLIAMS, 8.Mustafa AMINI (c), 9.Bruno FORNAROLI, 10.Salim KHELIFI, 11.Ben AZUBEL, 12.Luke IVANOVIC, 14.Jack CLISBY, 16.Keegan JELACIC, 19.Zach DUNCAN, 20.Giordano COLLI, 23.Mitch OXBORROW, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 30.Pierce CLARK (gk), 37.Jacob MUIR, 43.Adam ZIMARINO, 77.Stefan COLAKOVSKI
In: 16.Keegan JELACIC, 43.Adam ZIMARINO, 77.Stefan COLAKOVSKI
Out: 18.David WILLIAMS
Unavailable: 1.Brad JONES (gk) (injured), 13.Cameron COOK (gk) (injured), 18.David WILLIAMS (illness), 21.Anthony BURKE-GILROY (injured), 22.Adrian SARDINERO (injured)
#ONEGlory
