Perth Glory interim coach Ian Ferguson has lamented the lack of finishing quality in his side as their horror run continued with a home loss to Wellington on Sunday.
Despite boasting the presence of marquee men Robbie Fowler and Mile Sterjovski, the Glory have struggled to find the back of the net in the past two months, scoring just twice as they’ve lost eight of the last nine games.
Having been belted 5-0 by Central Coast last Saturday, Ferguson had hoped his side had turned the corner when they produced a battling 0-0 draw with Melbourne Heart midweek that was full of endeavour.
But all that good work was undone on Sunday when Wellington’s Tim Brown smashed home a sensational strike within 42 seconds of kicking off.
And, having gone down so early, the Glory simply didn’t have the finishing touch to reel in their opponent, as Michael Baird and Jamie Coyne were both denied by Wellington stopper Mark Paston.
“I felt that we lost an early goal, you start to see a little bit of confidence go down,” Ferguson said.
“We did have a couple of good chances ourselves. If we could have maybe put ’em away, it may have changed the game for us.”
“But losing that early goal, wasn’t good … It’s one of these ones, it’s a massive blow there’s no doubt about that.”
Although Baird and Coyne had their chances, there were several times throughout the game where Perth players would dish off the ball to a team-mate rather than shooting themselves.
Ferguson said he could understand the fan’s frustration when they saw this.
“I can understand where you’re coming from,” he said.
“And, I’m even standing at the side screaming to shoot and then they’ll try and play that extra pass.”
“But it’s probably what they see on the park. It’s great for us sitting, watching and criticising or applauding.”
“But, as I said we still created a few good chances today that I felt if we would have taken them it could have been a totally different story.”
“I don’t think they had too many shots at goal either. I think they had a little bit (more) of possession but I thought the boys defended well and we just couldn’t put the ball in the net at times.”
The Glory have also suffered two further blows ahead of their midweek clash in Adelaide on Wednesday night.
Skipper Jacob Burns will miss the game after receiving two yellow cards on Sunday and being dismissed in the 80th minute.
And, young defender Scott Neville will be racing to be fit after being forced off in the 30th minute with a corked leg following a heavy clash with Phoenix hardman Vince Lia.
