Ian Ferguson says there will be some disappointed players within his squad who will be unlucky to miss out on selection for Sunday’s elimination final against Melbourne Heart.
With usual central midfield pairing Liam Miller (back) and Jacob Burns (ribs) and defenders Josh Mitchell (back) and Bas van den Brink (calf) in line to return from injury and Steven McGarry (hamstring) a good chance to be fit, Ferguson faces a selection headache.
McGarry was the only one of those five to start in last week’s 4-2 win against Melbourne Victory and the coach was delighted with the way some of his fringe and inexperienced players fared in their absence.
But it’s expected to be a vastly different Perth side that takes the field on Sunday with the stars due to return for the club’s first home final in the Hyundai A-League era and Ferguson said it was tough on many of those who played against the Victory.
“This is the hardest thing about this game. They’ve given us everything,” he said.
“I’ve had a chat to them and I’ve told them the jobs they’ve done this season have been outstanding.”
“There’ll be some disappointed and some heads go down but we can only pick 11 and I can only put what I think is my best team out there.”
“Liam Miller has trained all this week and Jacob Burns has too. Bas van den Brink has come in as well and Josh Mitchell, so we’re getting them all back. They’re not definite to play but they’ll be in the squad.”
Ferguson said his biggest injury concern for Sunday’s game at nib Stadium would be whether Miller could last the 90 minutes after missing the last five games.
“He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do, which is great … but we have to make sure that we monitor him right and that we don’t provoke the injury again,” he said.
The Glory are big favourites to advance and host Wellington in next week’s semi final, but they’re expecting a strong test against a side which beat them 2-1 in Perth in December.
Ferguson said the Heart were still an extremely strong side despite the absence of former Perth veteran Simon Colosimo.
“They’re a very attacking team and it’s going to be very difficult,” he said.
“We do know they’ve got some really good players and we do know some of them will need some special attention but at the end of the day this is our home final and we’re looking forward to it.”
Ferguson said he was baffled no Glory players made it into the PFA team of the year, nominating Burns, Miller, McGarry and Shane Smeltz as those he felt deserved selection.
