Head Coach David Zdrilic is relishing the prospect of seeing his new-look Glory side in action for the first time when they face Wellington Phoenix in the Hahn Australia Cup 2025 Round of 32 at Olympic Stadium, Kingsway Reserve on Sunday (kick-off is at 3pm, tickets are available HERE).
Click HERE to view his full pre-match media conference
The men in purple will be out to stage a repeat of their thrilling 5-4 extra-time win over Melbourne City at the same stage of the competition last year.
And Zdrilic would love to give the club’s Members and fans more Cup success to celebrate.
“The supporters deserve it,” he said, “and we want to go as far as we can.
“It’s a long pre-season in the A-League, but if you’re in the Cup, you have these games that come very quickly, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.
“This first game is going to be interesting for both teams.
“They’ve played a trial match against Wrexham, we haven’t, but we’ve been training hard and we’re going to be ready.”
With fixture coming very early in Glory’s pre-season campaign, the Head Coach confirmed that a number of factors will come into play as he considers his squad selection.
“We’ve tried to get as much base fitness in as we can and tactically prepared for the game as best we can,” he said.
“All the players are at different levels and we’ll have to pick the fittest players at this stage.
“Last year we did that… and I’m sure it’ll be the same for Wellington.
“It’s a tricky one because we don’t want to push anyone too early, but it’s a Cup match that we want to win, so we have to find that balance.”
Adding an extra wrinkle to the build-up to Sunday is the fact that Glory’s final A-League game of last season saw them secure a deserved 2-0 win over Phoenix at Sky Stadium.
But Zdrilic was quick to play down the relevance of that result.
“It was good to finish off the season with an away win over them,” he said, “but we’ve got a lot of changes to our team and they’ve had some changes too, so it’s tough to know how much to read into it.
“We’re focusing more on us and I’m sure they’re doing the same.”
The fixture at Olympic Stadium will mark the first ever Australia Cup clash between Glory and Phoenix, although the two have met on 54 occasions in the A-League.
The Kiwi side have claimed 22 victories to Glory’s 21, but only seven of those three-pointers have come in WA.
Like Glory, Giancarlo Italiano’s men suffered a Cup-set last year when they were downed 1-0 by South Melbourne in the Round of 32.
They secured Sunday’s tie against Glory by edging Brisbane Roar out in May’s Final Round PlayOff.
In terms of off-season ins and outs, Phoenix have not been especially active so far.
Among their most notable departures were defensive duo Scott Wootton and Sam Sutton who both joined Glory and are now poised to face their former club in their first competitive game in purple.
Talismanic forward Kosta Barbarouses has also moved on, signing for Western Sydney Wanderers, but former Glory winger Carlo Armiento has joined the ‘Nix, along with Nigerian striker Ifeanyi Eze who has spent the last three years plying his trade in Libya and Iraq.
#ONEGlory
Match Preview: Zdrila and co excited by Phoenix Cup clash
