After last week’s defeat at Bayswater City, the PGFC Academy First Team are set to return to home soil on Saturday when Inglewood United will provide the opposition at E&D Litis Stadium (Kick off at 3.00pm).
Inglewood leapfrogged Glory into second place on the NPL WA ladder after beating Rockingham City last time out and will therefore provide a real test for Richard Garcia’s side as they look to make an immediate return to the winners’ circle.
“I thought we were very good last week for large periods of the game and were unlucky not to get anything out of it,” said Garcia, “but we were a little tame in the final third with Bayswater having everyone behind the ball.
“We have to learn from that situation and we will.
“We will probably under-perform in games this season and win, but I’ve got every confidence in my players and I’ll be looking for consistency and focus from them again against Inglewood on Saturday.”
With members of the club’s Hyundai A-League squad now unavailable as they enjoy a well-earned break, Garcia was quick to point out that the younger players within the program will have even more of an opportunity to shine.
“We have some talented players throughout our Academy,” he said, “and that’s a great deal to do with their dedication.
“Steve McGarry and I have worked extremely hard to develop the players and we are now seeing the rewards.
“The 18s are sitting third on the table, while the 20s sit four points clear at the top and all our development squads are improving each week.
“So that’s a big tick to the club’s development program and bodes well for the future.”
Like his coach, young striker Gabriel Popovic felt that there were plenty of positives to take out of the narrow defeat to Bayswater.
“Yes, it was a disappointing loss,” he said.
“They sat back and made it hard for us, but I thought we played well throughout the whole game.
“Coming out of the game without any points has made us determined to bounce back for this weekend’s match against Inglewood.
“It has been a good week of training. We’ve looked back over last week’s game and seen a few details we can improve on and worked on them.
“We know it will be a tough match, but the boys look ready and, as always, we go into the game looking for the three points.”
It’s a busy weekend for Academy Under-20s, who are also in action on Monday when they play Floreat Athena at Grindleford Reserve, the home of Balcatta SC, in the Quarter-Finals of the Belt-Up State League Reserves Cup.
Kick off for that Cup clash is at 12.15pm.
NPL Match Details
Saturday 1 June 2019
Perth Glory v Inglewood United
E&D Litis Stadium
First Team: 3.00pm
Under 20s: 1.00pm
Under 18s: 11.00am
#OneGlory
Picture courtesy of Tom McCarthy
