Perth Glory head coach Alex Epakis says he will stick to his attacking game plan as the club attempts to take down the Liberty A-League’s best sides.
Glory’s top-four hopes were dealt a huge blow last week when they let a two-goal lead slip in a 3-3 draw against lowly Canberra United.
It came just five days after they needed two late goals to secure a 3-2 win over last-placed Wellington Phoenix.
The draw with Canberra resulted in Perth slipping to fifth spot, and they will now play the top four teams in their next four games, starting with Thursday’s clash with third-placed Adelaide United at Central Coast Stadium.
After facing Adelaide, Glory play against second-placed Melbourne City, fourth-placed Melbourne Victory, and the ladder-leading Sydney FC.
Epakis is confident his attacking, high-tempo style can win games against top opposition.
“My personal belief is that we have a certain style of play, and it’s something that’s specific to us and our characteristics and the strengths of the players that we have,” Epakis said.
“I’ve never been in the business of changing it for the opposition.
“We might tweak it, but we’ll never go full shift away from it.
“For us it’s plan A. And if plan A is not working, we just need to do plan A better. That’s the approach I’ve always worked towards.
“When we execute plan A and we execute it perfectly, we’re going to be a hard team to stop.”
Glory were winless last season on the way to collecting the wooden spoon.
Epakis is proud of the way the team has rebounded, but conceded last week’s draw against Canberra had made their finals hopes tougher.
“It definitely makes it a bit more tricky, but this group has only ever done things the hard way since I’ve been here,” he said.
“We’ve been dealt a lot of difficult cards over the two seasons, and that has to count towards something.
“And it’s probably in these moments where we can rely on the learnings and some of the previous heartbreaks, where we can use that as extra motivation to help us now.”
Adelaide are on a three-match winning streak, having destroyed Western Sydney and Newcastle 3-0 in their past two matches.
