Glory Head Coach David Zdrilic has called on his charges to retain the high standards they have shown in their previous 2024 Australia Cup outings when they take on Moreton City Excelsior at Perry Park on Wednesday evening (kick-off at 5:30pm WST, watch live and FREE on 10Play).
The men in purple have turned on the style to reach the Round of 16 for the first time in eight years, putting four past Brisbane Roar and then adding another five goals against Melbourne City in a thrilling Round of 32 clash at the Sam Kerr Football Centre.
And Zdrilic believes a similar level of performance will be required to see off a Moreton City Excelsior side which has just secured a second successive runners-up finish in the NPL Queensland competition.
“The approach we’ve taken to all of our training sessions and games in pre-season has been a great credit to the players and they need to continue that,” he said.
“Obviously, we’ve seen a lot of very big results where A-League teams have been eliminated by very good NPL teams and I think that just shows that the standard is increasing year on year and the competition is growing in stature.
“We need to make sure that we’re at the top of our game in all aspects, which we have been up until now.
“It’s a great competition to be in and we’ve had some very important games that we’ve played and were able to win to get to where we are now and we want to continue on this journey.”
Glory’s hosts warmed up for Wednesday evening by securing a 3-1 away win over Rochedale Rovers in their most recent NPL outing, with Marquez Walters scoring two of their goals to take his tally for the season to 21.
Zachary Kierpel has been another key figure for Excelsior, finding the net on 15 occasions and Zdrilic is expecting the well-drilled Queenslanders to provide a stern challenge.
“Like many of the NPL teams we’ve seen in the Australia Cup, they’re coming to the back end of their season, so they’ve had a lot of games under their belt and they’re in good form,” he said.
“They know the way they want to play, their relationships on the field are all there, they have a very clear structure, they like to build up and have some very good combinations.
“They have quick strikers who score goals and are a handful, they’re very comfortable on the ball and have some different build-up patterns that they use, so I’m expecting a very solid team to line up against us.
“But again, it’s about us taking the same energy into the game.
“The players have really bought in to this new identity, culture and philosophy that we’re playing and we want to continue that.”
In terms of team news, the Head Coach went on to confirm that his matchday squad will be similar to that which has featured in the previous two rounds.
“We’ve still got a number of players that haven’t even really started training with us since we’ve come in, so this Australia Cup group has been quite tight and small from the start,” he said.
“There’ll be another couple of changes for this game.
“I think the mentality behind the group has driven us this far.
“A few NPL players have stood up and played for us in the first couple of games and with this new identity, we embrace youth and new opportunity, so there is a lot of opportunity for new guys to come in if there are any issues.
“But in general, the majority of the squad will be the same as it was for the last game against [Melbourne] City.”
Moreton City Excelsior previously reached the Round of 16 in 2017 when they were knocked out by local rivals Gold Coast City, while this year, they scored 20 goals in qualifying for the Round of 32 and then thumped Campbelltown City SC 5-1 to set up the tie with Glory.
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