Melbourne Heart coach John van ‘t Schip said Perth Glory’s current woes have taken him by surprise but has urged his side not to let them off the hook on Wednesday night.
The Glory’s season has been in freefall over the last two months as they head into the match on the back of seven straight defeats.
Only the now-defunct New Zealand Knights in the competition’s first season have had a worse run of form, when they lost 11 matches on the trot.
Perth led the league after the first five weeks and were among the championship favourites but it’s all gone downhill since.
Van ‘t Schip admits he’s surprised by their turnaround in form but said his side would not be taking Ian Ferguson’s men lightly on Wednesday night.
“I am (surprised) because the quality is there,” the Dutchman said.
“They showed that in the first few games in the season and that’s not gone.”
“It’s only the team spirit (that) goes down to a low level if you lose a few games behind each other.”
“The best medicine is getting three points, we all know that, and they are in a bad moment.”
“So we should be prepared and don’t give them the chance to get back in that moment they had at the beginning of the season.”
The Heart, who won their first away match against Newcastle on Sunday, will again be without injured strikers John Aloisi and Alex Terra who stayed in Melbourne for rehab.
Midfielder Wayne Srhoj will also miss the match against his former side through suspension after accumulating five yellow cards.
Srhoj’s absence will increase the reliance on youngster Nick Kalmar, who has been a revelation so far this season and scored a spectacular opener to set the Heart on the way to victory against the Jets.
“He’s an important part of the squad … we gave him the confidence and the trust early and he did a good job for us and that’s what I try to do with all the players,” van ‘t Schip said.
“If a player plays a few games in the first team, they make another step in the group and become more a 100 per cent player than just being a squad player.”
“They’re all players that we can now pick for the line-up, and that’s the positive thing.”
Glory coach Ian Ferguson promised more changes to his side following Saturday night’s 5-0 thrashing by the Central Coast, with a number of the club’s youngsters in line for a call-up to the team.
