Coach Richard Garcia admits the uncertainty of life on the road can creep into the minds of Perth Glory’s travelling party but he’ll attempt to keep his players focused on a gruelling playing schedule.
The Glory are in the midst of a three-game stint in Victoria and are meant to travel to Brisbane and Adelaide to allow them to return home in time for Christmas, before departing for Sydney in the new year.
But those plans could be thrown by Western Australia introducing a hard border with South Australia.
“The borders to South Australia have now closed so it becomes a little more difficult with our route away to get back home,” Garcia said.
“So that’s something that can also play on the players’ minds. The uncertainty of what happens and being able to return to WA plays a massive part on players’ minds, on staff’s minds.
“So it’s a difficult situation and the club are trying everything in their power to be able to navigate a safe passage home to get these guys in a position where they are comfortable.
“Whether that be back in Perth for Christmas or whatever that may be, whatever the solution is. The most important thing is that these guys are given high priority on the list of things to do.”
Garcia hailed his undermanned side’s resilience after Sunday’s breakthrough 3-0 win over Melbourne Victory but they face a tight turnaround to play Melbourne City on Wednesday, then the Brisbane Roar in Brisbane on Saturday
“The guys are gonna have to back-up quickly and that’s part of sport. You’ve got to back-up,” he said.
“The young guys will just have to take their chances.”
Skipper Brandon O’Neill remains with his pregnant wife back in Perth while goalkeeper Brad Jones will be out for “an extended period” after scans on his calf showed a worse injury than expected.
“The other guys that are back there (WA) like Andy Keogh (calf) are doing well in their rehab,” Garcia said.
“Now it’s just about finding solutions to keep this group in a good place and try and eventually bring those guys over, or how we manage our pathway throughout the next three, four weeks.”
Star recruit Daniel Sturridge didn’t feature for a second consecutive game and Garcia conceded he likely wouldn’t play against City.
“That’s our focus. To get him fit for that Brisbane game and give him some minutes off the bench,” he said.
