Perth Glory defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley believes the club’s under-fire defence is starting to establish itself as a lean, mean, goal-stopping machine.
Speaking at the Glory’s recovery session on Monday morning following a 2-0 victory over the Phoenix on Sunday, Topor-Stanley said Perth’s second clean sheet of the season had eased some of the pressure on a defence which had leaked 23 goals over the first nine matches of this campaign.
“It was a solid performance by the boys,” Topor-Stanley said of the win.
“It wasn’t really the prettiest football we’ve played, but at the end of the day it’s about results and we’re pretty happy with it.”
“As a team we haven’t performed defensively as well as we’d like to, (but) it’s (the clean sheet) taken a bit of pressure off our shoulders.”
The team’s increasing defensive solidity has coincided with the return of former Socceroo Hayden Foxe to the club’s playing ranks after the 31-year-old missed the first seven matches with an inflammation of a serious foot injury he received while playing for Portsmouth in 2003.
But Topor-Stanley’s move from left back into central defence has been just as important, where the club’s most Glorious player in 2007-08 has excelled cutting out dangerous attacks through the middle and flanks.
Foxe was absent again on Sunday as coach Dave Mitchell opted to be cautious with his defender, who’s been suffering from hamstring soreness last week.
But Topor-Stanley once again did the job alongside Dino Djulbic and Jamie Harnwell during the latter stages, after Djulbic was forced from the field with a sprained ankle.
Topor-Stanley admitted the chopping and changing in defence throughout the season hadn’t helped the club’s poor defensive record, but said the players just had to get on with it and rectify that situation from now on.
“You’ve just got to concentrate on staying solid,” Topor-Stanley said when asked how difficult it was to adjust to numerous selection changes.
“It’s not ideal but we’re not professional footballers for nothing and we have to deal with it.”
The defence’s next test will come from Newcastle on Sunday as the Glory look to establish a new club record of four wins from as many home matches.
However, the back four will be coming up against last season’s top goal scorer Joel Griffiths, although they won’t have to worry about Ecuadorian striker Edmundo Zura, who left the Jets on Monday afternoon citing personal reasons for his decision to return to South America.
Topor-Stanley, though, just wants to ensure the Glory maintains their winning run at home as they looks to establish Members Equity Stadium as a genuine fortress for the club.
“I think we’re equal on points now with Newcastle, we’ve jut got to take what we’ve been doing over the last few weeks into this game and hopefully we’ll win again,” he said.
“We’re not trying to make it easy for anyone who makes the trip over and that’s what we’re really concentrating on, keeping the home record and making it as difficult as possible for traveling teams to come here.”
