Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell will give top-line defender Hayden Foxe all the time he can to prove his fitness ahead of this weekend’s crunch game against Wellington.
Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell will give top-line defender Hayden Foxe all the time he can to prove his fitness ahead of this weekend’s crunch game against Wellington.
The former Socceroo, who missed the first seven matches of this season with a foot injury, has been suffering from leg soreness after his first two matches back in action.
Foxe had a late fitness test last weekend ahead of the club’s narrow loss to Adelaide but the 31-year-old made it through that encounter.
He has continued on a modified training schedule this week, along with Jamie Harnwell and skipper Jamie Coyne, in order to ensure the trio are fit and firing for this weekend-s big clash.
“There’s a few niggles there that I want to be sure of,” was all the Glory coach would confirm. “(But) I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag so to speak.”
“If Foxey doesn’t come through then you’ve got Dino (Djulbic) there. We’ve got a squad now that I can pick a few players from so there are a few options either way,” Mitchell said.
Perth-s top-scorer, Eugene Dadi, completed Friday-s session and could add to the considerable firepower the club boasts with Harnwell and Nikita Rukavytsya getting amongst the goals in recent weeks.
Regardless of selection, Mitchell said the side was focused on the job at hand with everyone acutely aware that wins at home are essential in keeping their finals hopes alive.
Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix
Sunday 2 November, Members Equity Stadium
Local kick-off 5.00pm (7.00pm AEDT)
To purchase tickets visit www.ticketmaster.com.au
Match Radio Broadcast on 6PR 882am – click here to listen
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 1 and on Sky Sport 2.
Referee: Chris Beath
Perth Glory Squad: 30.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 2.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 4.Jamie COYNE (c), 5.Jamie HARNWELL, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Nick RIZZO, 9.Adrian TRINIDAD, 10.AMARAL, 11.Scott BULLOCH, 13.Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, 14.Eugene DADI, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO, 17.James DOWNEY, 18.Hayden FOXE, 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI, 20.Frank JURIC (gk), 22.Wayne SRHOJ.
* two to be omitted
In: 7.Nick RIZZO (promoted), 14.Eugene DADI (return from injury).
Out: Nil.
Unavailable: Josip MAGDIC (ankle – season), James ROBINSON (abdomen – 7 weeks), David TARKA (quad – 1 week).
Wellington Phoenix Squad: 1.Mark PASTON (gk), 3.Tony LOCHHEAD, 4.Jon McKAIN, 5.Karl DODD, 6.Tim BROWN, 7.Leo BERTOS, 8.Vaughan COVENY, 9.Shane SMELTZ, 10.Michael FERRANTE, 11.DANIEL, 18.Ben SIGMUND, 20.Glen MOSS (gk), 21.Leilei GAO, 22.Andrew DURANTE (c), 23.Costa BARBAROUSES.
In: 23. Costa BARBAROUSES (promoted).
Out: 15. Adam KWASNIK (omitted).
Unavailable: Vince LIA (knee – season).
