Tony Popovic was full of praise for his table-topping side ahead of Sunday’s home clash with his former club, Western Sydney Wanderers.
Glory will take on the red-and-blacks off the back of an eye-catching home victory over Sydney FC and consecutive away successes at Central Coast and Brisbane.
And while keen to point out the threat that Wanderers will pose at nib Stadium, Popovic was quick to salute his players’ fortitude.
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“We travelled back from Brisbane and arrived on Monday afternoon and the lads put in a performance like that on Wednesday [against Sydney FC] without any talk of a short turnaround or fatigue,” he said.
“I think that shows where the players are at physically and mentally.
“They’ll take on any challenge and we know that there are many still ahead of us and we can’t take our position for granted, because if we do, we won’t get the result on Sunday.
“We’ll need to perform as well if not better against Western Sydney.
“They are a different type of opposition. They’ll be very dynamic, they run, they chase and they’ve created the most chances in the league. If we take them for granted, we’ll end up empty-handed, so we need to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Wanderers will head west occupying eighth spot on the ladder having won two of their 12 games this term and are set to be without two of their high-profile imports, Oriol Riera and Alexander Baumjohann, both of whom are injured.
Glory, in contrast, have a clean bill of health, with the only absentee being Chris Ikonomidis who remains on international duty with the Socceroos at the Asian Cup.
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Match Details
Sunday, 13 January 2019
Perth Glory v Western Sydney Wanderers FC
nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-Off: 5:00PM (Local) (8:00PM (AEDT))
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referee 1: Josh Mannella
Assistant Referee 2: Matthew Southern
Fourth Official: Adam Fielding
VAR: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash tag #PERvWSW
Perth Glory squad: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 2.Alex GRANT, 3.Jason DAVIDSON, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 9.Andy KEOGH, 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 13.Matthew SPIRANOVIC, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 17.Diego CASTRO, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 21. Jacob ITALIANO, 22.Fabio FERREIRA, 23.Scott NEVILLE, 27.JUANDE, 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 88.Neil KILKENNY
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 2.Alex GRANT (promoted), 22.Fabio FERREIRA (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
Western Sydney Wanderers: 5.Brendan HAMILL (c), 7.Nick FITZGERALD, 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 13.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 14.Mathieu CORDIER, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk), 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Rashid MAHAZI, 24.Raul LLORENTE, 27.Kwame YEBOAH, 32.John ROBERTS, 33.Tate RUSSELL, 34.Patrick ZIEGLER, 40.Nicholas SUMAN (gk), 49.Abraham MAJOK
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 22.Rashid MAHAZI (promoted), 24.Raul LLORENTE (promoted), 32.John ROBERTS (promoted), 49.Abraham MAJOK (promoted)
Outs: 9.Oriol RIERA (injury – 3 weeks) 10.Alexander BAUMJOHANN (injury – 3 weeks)
Unavailable: 16.Josh RISDON (international duty), 19.Mark BRIDGE (injury – 2 weeks)
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