After a drought-breaking win over Auckland FC, Perth Glory head coach David Zdrilic intends to name a similar starting line-up for Tuesday night’s clash with Western Sydney Wanderers, despite the short turnaround.
MATCH REPORT: Glory end record home losing streak with shock triumph over Auckland
Prior to Saturday night’s Auckland triumph, Glory had registered seven-straight defeats at home. Now, they have the chance to notch back-to-back wins at home – albeit against a well-rested Wanderers outfit.
Western Sydney’s last game was a 2-2 draw with Melbourne Victory on January 4.
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“Surprisingly, everyone has (pulled up) quite good,” Zdrilic said. “Everybody has put their hand up, they want to play. I’ve said that many times – definitely in this situation, they want to play.
“But we’ve got another training session today… so we’ll assess everyone and go from there, but I’m hoping it will be a similar lineup.
“Having a win at home, especially (with) the way we played – I thought the atmosphere after the win with the fans and everything, everybody was so happy and relieved that it all came together.
“(It was) not just a win against the odds – we deserved it. We created a lot of chances, we played really good football, probably the best football we have all season. We deserved the win. It wasn’t just getting the three points, it was the way we did it.
“I think that was important for the guys – now, we’re ready to kick on.”
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On Tuesday, Glory face a Wanderers side that boasts a significant attacking threat; Nicolas Milanovic (six goals, three assists), and Brandon Borrello (five goals, five assists) have been two of the standout forwards of the season to date, whilst World Cup and UEFA Champions League winner Juan Mata is starting to make more of an impact after breaking back into the Wanderers’ starting XI in recent weeks.
Zdrilic says there’s no specific plan to lessen to Spaniard’s impact on proceedings at HBF Park, but believes physicality on the field will be key to replicating the fine performance his side put together against Auckland in Round 13.
“I think in the A-League there’s a lot of players with good quality, and Mata is just another one,” Zdrilic said. “We’ve seen that in glimpses he’s been able to provide, especially on the ball, his final pass and he scored a goal a couple of weeks ago, so he’s got that quality.
“But we need to make it a physical game so it’s harder for him as well and all the other players. I think we did that against Auckland and we need to do the same thing against Wanderers.”
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Team news – Perth Glory v Western Sydney Wanderers
Perth Glory squad: 1.Oli SAIL (gk), 3.Anas HAMZAOUI, 6.Brandon O’NEILL, 7.Nicholas PENNINGTON, 12.Taras GOMULKA, 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 14.Nathanael BLAIR, 15.Zach LISOLAJSKI, 16.Adam BUGARIJA, 17.Jarrod CARLUCCIO, 19.Josh RISDON, 20.Trent OSTLER, 21.Abdul FAISAL, 22.Adam TAGGART, 24.Andriano LEBIB, 25.Jaylan PEARMAN, 26.Khoa NGO, 27.Will FRENEY, 29.Tomi MRCELA, 31.Joel ANASMO
(Two to be omitted)
Ins: 21.Abdul FAISAL, 27.Will FRENEY
Outs: Nil
Unavailable 9.David WILLIAMS (injured), 10.Nikola MILEUSNIC (injured)
Western Sydney Wanderers squad: 4.Alex BONETIG, 7.Zac SAPSFORD, 9.Marcus ANTONSSON, 10.Alex BADOLATO, 12.Ben HOLLIDAY, 13.Dean PELEKANOS, 14.Nicolas MILANOVIC, 18.Oscar PRIESTMAN, 19. Jack CLISBY, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 21.Aydan HAMMOND, 22.Anthony PANTAZOPOULOS, 23.Bozhidar KRAEV, 25.Josh BRILLANTE, 26.Brandon BORRELLO, 27.James TEMELKOVSKI, 30.Jordan HOLMES (GK), 31. Aidan SIMMONS, 41.Jesse CAMERON, 64.Juan MATA
(Two to be omitted)
Ins: 13.Dean PELEKANOS (returns from suspension), 41.Jesse CAMERON (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 2.Gab CLEUR (injured), 5.Dylan SCICLUNA (injured), 8.Jeong TAE-WOOK (injured)
