Head Coach Ruben Zadkovich has backed his players to give the Glory faithful plenty to shout about in Saturday’s long-awaited opening home game of the ISUZU UTE A-League season against Western United (kick-off at 7.30pm, tickets HERE).
The men will take to the field at Macedonia Park for the first time looking to secure a second win of the campaign at the expense of the reigning champions who have also secured one victory thus far this term.
And Zadkovich feels that finally having a home crowd behind them will provide his charges with a very welcome and significant boost.
“The biggest thing for me is to be playing in front of our home Members and fans,” he said.
“The last time we played in front of them, we beat Melbourne City 2-0 and produced a great performance for those that were there.
“The Members and fans of this club always come with their voices and their support and that’s a big help for us.
“There’s a lot for the fans to be excited about.
“Firstly, just to go to a football match with loved ones and family and kids.
“It’s going to be one of those environments where you’re right on the fence and close to the action and I remember when I was a young kid, those are the best type of football days.
“We’re super-excited and we want to do our Members and fans proud and give them something to believe in again.
“We know we still have a lot of work to do and it’s going to take time for us to be the team they want us to be and the team they deserve.
“But one thing I know, is that on the weekend, the players will be giving everything to get those points and the fans will help.”
The Head Coach went on to confirm that the World Cup interlude has been a positive one for the squad on a number of different levels.
“I’m really proud of the way the boys have trained,” he said.
“They’ve applied themselves really well over the last four or five weeks and I think that should culminate in a good performance at the weekend.
“Our medical team has done a fantastic job, led by our Head of Medical, Jas [Jasraj Sidhu], who is an exceptional physio.
“He’s done a lot of work with a couple of the individuals who had some issues and we’ve got a pretty full roster at the moment, which is nice.
“That promotes the competitive environment which we needed in the break.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do.
“It’s a new group; we’ve got a lot of new faces, but we’ve had some time now to take shape on the training pitch and that gives not only myself, but also the players, some confidence.
“Some of those performances away from home at the start of the year were a little off the mark, but not so far in some areas.
“So we’ve had an opportunity to refine and we’re really excited for the weekend.”
In terms of early team news, skipper Mustafa Amini is set to to make a welcome return from injury and Aaron McEneff will be available once again having missed the Round 5 clash with Melbourne City through illness.
United, meanwhile, have been boosted by Nikolai Topor-Stanley’s suspension being reduced on appeal, allowing the veteran centre-back to potentially feature against one of his former clubs.
Malian international midfielder Tongo Doumbia has also returned to John Aloisi’s extended squad.
Match Details
ISUZU UTE A-League 2022/23 Season Round 7
Perth Glory v Western United
Macedonia Park
Saturday 10 December 2022
Kick-off: 7.30pm
Perth Glory squad: 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 2.John KOUTROUMBIS, 4.Luke BODNAR, 5.Mark BEEVERS, 6.Aaron MCENEFF, 7.Ryan WILLIAMS, 8.Mustafa AMINI (c), 10.Salim KHELIFI, 11.Ben AZUBEL, 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 14.Jack CLISBY, 16.Keegan JELACIC, 18.David WILLIAMS, 19.Zach DUNCAN, 20.Giordano COLLI, 23.Mitch OXBORROW, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 36.Joseph FORDE, 37.Jacob MUIR, 43.Adam ZIMARINO
Ins: 2.John KOUTROUMBIS, 6.Aaron MCENEFF, 8.Mustafa AMINI, 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 16.Keegan JELACIC, 18.David WILLIAMS
Outs: 12.Luke IVANOVIC, 30.Pierce CLARK (gk), 77.Stefan COLAKOVSKI
Unavailable: 1.Brad JONES (gk) (injured), 21.Anthony BURKE-GILROY (injured), 22.Adrian SARDINERO (injured)
Western United squad: 1. Jamie YOUNG (gk), 4. Leo LACROIX, 5. Dylan PIERIAS, 7. Tongo DOUMBIA, 8. Lachlan WALES, 9. Dylan WENZEL-HALLS, 11. Connor PAIN, 14. James TROISI, 17. Ben GARUCCIO, 19. Joshua RISDON, 23. Alessandro DIAMANTI (c) 26. Nicolas MILANOVIC, 27. Jacob TRATT, 33. Ben COLLINS, 37. Ryan SCOTT (gk), 38. Noah BOTIC, 42. Rhys BOZINOVSKI, 44. Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 88. Neil KILKENNY, 99. Aleksandar PRIJOVIC
Ins: 7. Tongo DOUMBIA (return from injury), 38. Noah BOTIC, 44. Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY (return from suspension)
Outs: 21. Sebastian PASQUALI
Unavailable: 10. Steven LUSTICA (injured)
#ONEGlory
