Glory Head Coach Ruben Zadkovich has confirmed that Bruno Fornaroli, Andy Keogh and Daniel Sturridge will all feature in Saturday’s ISUZU UTE A-League clash with Western Sydney Wanderers at HBF Park (kick-off at 5.45pm, tickets HERE).
View the full media conference HERE.
Fornaroli has been sidelined by an ankle injury picked up during his time away with the Socceroos, while respective Achilles and groin issues have hampered Keogh and Sturridge for much of the current campaign.
The showdown with the red-and-blacks will mark the final appearance in purple of Keogh, Glory’s all-time A-League record goalscorer and appearances-holder and Zadkovich is excited at the prospect of fielding a more experienced frontline.
“We’ve got a few inclusions, which is nice,” he said.
“We’ve got Bruno back which is a massive inclusion for a lot of reasons.
“Not only is he a high-class player, but he’s also a high-class character and he brings a real strong mentality to the group and I think that will help the youngsters for sure.
“He’ll add a lot, although he’s been out for four or five weeks now and will be underdone, so we’ll have to look after him as best we can.
“Sturridge will start.
“He’s worked hard for a long period now to try and get in a position to play again.
“We could use him off the bench as he’s obviously going to be underdone, but I just thought with the quality of the person and the player, the fans would love to see him go out and start the game.
“We don’t have much riding on the game, we’ve got nothing to lose.
“It’s an occasion where we can make it nice and positive, play Bruno and Daniel up front and let the lads express themselves.
“Andy is quite underdone, but he’s definitely going to make an appearance off the bench.
“It’ll probably be late and it’ll be a special moment for him.
“He gets to end it the way he wants to end it, on his own terms… he’s a really special part of the fabric of the club and we want to farewell him in the right fashion.
“We’ll make sure it’s special for him and I’m sure the fans want to thank him for his service to the club as he’s been an extremely good servant for a long time.”
Zadkovich went on to suggest that the other members of what is an incredibly youthful Glory squad, will benefit from having the chance to play alongside Fornaroli and Sturridge.
“I really want the youngsters to learn and grow from the experience of playing with these kinds of guys,” he said.
“We’ve been probably the youngest team in Glory history this last month or so and it’ll be nice for some of those youngsters to experience what it’s like playing with people like [Sturridge] and Bruno.
“For them to feel that layer of experience and belief and share the pitch and the same jersey with them is a really special thing.”
In terms of other squad news, meanwhile, although no fresh injuries were sustained in last weekend’s trip to Adelaide, Carlo Armiento, Luke Bodnar, Jack Clisby, Brad Jones, Brandon O’Neill, Trent Ostler, Kosuke Ota, Adrian Sardinero and Adam Zimarino all remain unavailable.
Western Sydney Wanderers are set to have Gary van Egmond in charge at HBF Park as Head Coach Mark Rudan serves a suspension after being sent from the dugout during last week’s defeat at the hands of Wellington Phoenix.
The visitors currently occupy tenth spot on the ladder and are in mixed form having won two, lost two and drawn four of their last eight games.
Jack Rodwell’s goal proved enough to earn them the points when the two sides last met in Round, but that was one of only two victories the New South Welshmen have enjoyed in their last 11 A-League clashes with Glory.
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