Relieved interim Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson hopes his side may have turned the corner after snapping a seven-game losing streak with a goalless draw against Melbourne Heart.
After an unbeaten run over the campaign’s first five weeks, the wheels had well and truly fallen off for the Glory even before they were hammered 5-0 by Central Coast in Sydney last Saturday night.
But having made sweeping changes to the starting XI for the midweek match at nib Stadium, Ferguson was glad his side ground out the draw, especially after they survived a last-ditch Heart assault where Eli Babalj crashed an injury-time header into the upright.
“Considering the run we’ve been through it was a tough 10 minutes at the end you know, I must admit it really was,” Ferguson said.
“(But) it was a more positive performance and the young kids we brought in tonight, I thought done fantastic.”
“The players knew how important it was to try and stop the rot tonight and I could feel that. There was obviously a little touch of nervousness there, but when we went out and played I thought we did some fantastic stuff at times.”
“It was just getting that little bit of energy back in there, a little bit of bounce in the place again and I think tonight, I see a lot of happy boys in there, even though it was a draw.”
“(So) I’m happy because we stopped the rot. We’ve stopped another defeat, which was good and it gave the boys confidence. There were massive positives to come out of it.”
Ferguson reserved special praise for the three youngsters he brought in from the Glory’s successful National Youth League side, speedy forward Tommy Amphlett, midfielder Howard Fondyke and defender Brent Griffiths.
The trio, along with skipper Jacob Burns who was returning from suspension, were added to the starting XI in place of Branko Jelic, Ryan Pearson, Naum Sekulovski and Steve McGarry. Superstar Robbie Fowler also made way, dropped to the bench as Michael Baird took his place in the starting side.
“Every one of them deserves a special mention,” said Ferguson when asked about the impact his youngsters had on the contest.
“I thought they gave us energy and pace and it was really pleasing tonight, it was a much better performance.”
“We’ve basically had nothing to lose tonight, (so) I felt I should give them a chance and I thought they paid us back handsomely.”
