Perth Glory Captain Jacob Burns is preparing himself for a tough match against an Alessandro Del Piero-led Sydney tomorrow afternoon but insists the team’s focus is more on their own game rather than the oppositions.
Perth Glory Captain Jacob Burns is preparing himself for a tough match against an Alessandro Del Piero-led Sydney tomorrow afternoon but insists the team-s focus is more on their own game rather than the oppositions.
“Absolutely, he-s a special player,” Burns said when asked if he was setting himself for Del Piero-s to play at Friday-s training session.
“There-s still an injury cloud over a number of players but we have to prepare right and it-s more about our game and what we do here.”
“They [Sydney FC] haven-t had the results of late but you know a wounded dog is sometimes very difficult to play. I-m sure Frank will have his men fired up, so we-re by no means going into the match expecting it to be easy. If anything, we-re expecting them to come out flying,” Burns added.
Things can turn around pretty quickly in football. Only last week, Glory found themselves sitting ninth on the ladder without a win to their name after two tough away matches, but a Jamie Maclaren strike in the 51st minute against Melbourne Heart secured the three points for the Perth team and propelled them up the Hyundai A-League ladder from 9th to 6th.
Burns is acutely aware they need to make the most of their home-ground advantage but is confident the team has the right structures in place to trouble teams away and make a real impact on the league.
“We knew it was a hard start when we had to go Adelaide and Newcastle. We were very happy to pick up a point against Newcastle in a hard game and it set us up nicely for a win against Heart here.”
“We know we need to make this a fortress. It-s a beautiful stadium. It was a packed house here last week and we-re hoping more of the same tomorrow. If we can do that and keep our home form well and pick up the results on the road when we can then we-ll know we-ll be challenging for things.”
Burns has also given a glowing endorsement of Head Coach Alistair Edwards, saying Edwards- ability to combine the younger players coming through with the more senior players, including the recent acquisition on international marquee player William Gallas, was testimony to the coach and the general direction Glory were heading.
“I think a player of Gallas- prestige to want to come here and get on the phone and for Ali to be able to convince him, speaks volumes of Ali.”
“But also the other players – the young guys who have had opportunities to go elsewhere, that have come here, that he has brought in, I think says volume about the manager,” said Burns.
