Perth midfielder Mile Sterjovski believes the Glory have found their hunger once more after ending a seven-game losing sequence through a battling midweek draw with Melbourne Heart.
The goals may not have been flowing in the 0-0 affair, but Sterjovski believes the enthusiasm and attack on the ball he and his team-mates displayed will hold them in good stead for Sunday’s clash with Wellington.
“We know that the last seven games haven’t been the best,” Sterjovski said.
“But to get a result, to get a point, I think is a big step for us and hopefully it can continue.”
“I think the hunger that the players showed (was the main upshot),” he added.
“There was a lot more hunger.”
“We were determined to win the tackles, to get the ball, to play the ball, so I think that was the biggest positive out of the game and hopefully it can continue.”
Sterjovski said he was unsure why that hunger hadn’t been quite there during the losing sequence but said the team was determined to start atoning for it.
“We tried to put it into every game but it just didn’t happen for some reason,” he said.
“It’s come back now, so we want it to stay and we want to get results. We want to get the crowd back, the people supporting us so we’re going to do out best to keep going that way.”
Glory interim coach Ian Ferguson said he is going to keep the changes to a minimum for Sunday’s clash with Wellington as his side look for their first win since September 5, ironically also against the Phoenix.
Ferguson said the effort shown on Wednesday night against Melbourne deserved to be rewarded.
“We’ll keep the young kids in there,” said Ferguson, referring to the young trio of Tommy Amphlett, Howard Fondyke and Brent Griffiths who excelled in the draw.
“They gave us that energy and I thought they were fantastic and gave us that lift we were looking for.”
“Hopefully it’s a step in the right direction for the way we’ve been.”
The players that Ferguson dropped for Wednesday night’s game in Branko Jelic, Ryan Pearson, Steven McGarry and Naum Sekulovski all look unlikely to be recalled after playing a full game in Perth’s 2-1 National Youth League win over Adelaide on Saturday.
In more encouraging signs, McGarry was close to best on ground while Pearson scored a cracking 30-metre goal to open the scoring.
However, Ferguson may be looking to bring another youngster, Andrija Jukic into the side after he was left out of Saturday’s youth squad.
