Head Coach Bobby Despotovski has insisted that his Glory Westfield W-League side will be solely focused on winning Friday’s blockbuster home clash with Melbourne Victory, regardless of what result they actually require to clinch a finals berth.
Glory could already be assured of a top-four finish on Thursday evening if fifth-placed Melbourne City fail to win at Sydney FC and they also retain a chance of being crowned minor premiers if they manage to down current ladder-leaders Victory and results elsewhere over the weekend and early next week go their way.
But while the variables are numerous, Despotovski vowed that his charges’ approach will be very single-minded.
“We’ll know on Thursday exactly what sort of result, if any, we are going to need to make the top four,” he said.
“But in saying that, we are going to try and win the game regardless.
“We play every game to win whether it’s to make finals, whether it’s the Grand Final itself, or the first game of the season. It’s as simple as that.”
Glory will be out to avenge their Round 9 defeat at the hands of the navy-and-whites, a performance which Despotovski was particularly disappointed by.
“We didn’t play well in that game and it took us by surprise a little bit how well Victory were and how physical they were as well,” he said.
“I always say that if you start a game in second gear, you’re not going to jump to fourth or fifth, but if you start in gear five, you can always drop into fourth or third.
“In that game we started at a very low intensity. We deserved nothing from that game and that’s what we got.
“But we have chance to make up for that now and we’ll look to combat everything that they throw at us on Friday and be better.”
Despotovski went on to report that his squad suffered no fresh injuries during last week’s resounding 5-1 win at Western Sydney Wanderers and that he will have a full complement of players from which to make his final selection.
Kick-off time at Dorrien Gardens is at 7pm and you can grab your tickets HERE.
Match Details
Westfield W-League 2018/19 Season Round 14
Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory
Referee: Rebecca Durcau
Assistant Referee 1: Arvin Shanmuganathan
Assistant Referee 2: Adrien Liechti
Fourth Official: Josh Mannella
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash tag #PERvMVC
Perth Glory squad: 1.Eliza CAMPBELL (gk), 2.Sarah CARROLL, 3.Kim CARROLL, 4.Alyssa MAUTZ , 5.Shannon MAY, 7.Nicole STANTON, 9.Rachel HILL, 10.Jacynta GALABADAARACHCHI, 11.Leticia McKENNA , 12.Jenna ONIONS, 13.Jamie-Lee GALE, 14.Caitlin DOEGLAS, 15.Alexia MORENO, 20.Sam KERR (c), 21.Morgan AQUINO (gk), 24.Natasha RIGBY, 25.Katie NAUGHTON
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 2.Sarah CARROLL (promoted), 10.Jacynta GALABADAARACHCHI (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Casey DUMONT (gk), 3.Teigen ALLEN, 5.Laura ALLEWAY, 6.Annabel MARTIN, 7.Christine NAIRN, 8.Angela BEARD, 9.Natasha DOWIE (c), 10.Kyra COONEY-CROSS, 11.MelindaJ BARBIERI, 14.Melina AYRES, 15.Emily GIELNIK, 16.Samantha JOHNSON, 17.Danielle WEATHERHOLT, 18.Grace MAHER, 19.Lia PRIVITELLI, 20.Bethany MASON-JONES (gk), 21.Ella MASTRANTONIO
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 10.Kyra COONEY-CROSS (promoted), 11. MelindaJ BARBIERI (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
#OneGlory
