Shane Smeltz has bristled at suggestions that Perth Glory didn’t have much to offer against Heart other than his ability to find the net.
Shane Smeltz has been in dazzling form for Perth Glory, scoring seven goals in his last two matches but he has bristled at suggestions from good mate and Wellington defender Ben Sigmund that the Glory are a one-man team.
Earlier in the week Sigmund joked about Smeltz being concerned that he would be marking him, but was deadly serious when he suggested Perth didn-t have much to offer last week other than Smeltz.
“Shane popped up and scored those goals, but to be fair I thought that was pretty much all they had,” Sigmund said.
Smeltz insisted that comment would only fire his teammates up and questioned whether that comment from Sigmund was indeed wise?
“That to me is probably a little bit crazy to be honest, because as soon as our boys hear that they are going to be out there to prove him wrong and stick it to him all game, so he has put himself in a bit of danger there with the rest of my teammates,” Smeltz said.
“I certainly think he is wrong. We-re not where we are through one man-s success, we have a team full of players that can hurt them and we will show that on Saturday.
“Liam Miller, Travis Dodd, Andrezinho, Billy Mehmet and that-s just going forward. At the back we have one of the best keepers in the league in Danny Vukovic, who has had the most clean sheets in the league.”
Sigmund’s comment was likely born out of watching Perth dminate the half, but being unable to find the killer punch in a first half where they were unable to put a single shot on Clint Bolton’s goal.
And while he disagreed with Sigmund’s statement, he did admit to being frustrated in the first half against the Heart, before crediting his teammates with improving their delivery in the second stanza.
“It (inability to get into the box) is something we spoke about,” Smeltz said.
“I probably felt that more than anyone, in the first half there wasn’t much coming my way or I wasn’t getting on the ball as much as i would have liked, but at the end of the day we managed to turn it round in the second half.”
“I put that start down to it being a finals game as well; it was quite cagey in the first half, but certainly we were dominating, we just weren’t getting the shots or the crosses off.”
While Smeltz felt Sigmund-s comment was aggressive he insisted he had nothing but respect for the Phoenix and some of his former teammates, and that he would relish the clash with All Whites goalkeeper Mark Paston.
“We respect them a hell of a lot they have some great players and a fantastic coach and they are where they are because they have had a great season, so we have to respect them, but I know for a fact they wouldn-t have wanted to come here,” he said.
“I-ve heard a few comments that they hoped the Heart got through, which is to be expected, because if we reversed it we wouldn-t want to be travelling that far for a finals game so it plays into our hands I think.”
As for suggestions Paston would have the inside word on his game, Smeltz insisted that he also knows Paston inside out.
“I think it works both ways to be honest, I know quite a lot about Pasty as well, which can work in my favour at times, it-s one of those things you have to deal with, they know me well and I know them.”
That has been evidenced by Smeltz failing to score any of his 16 goals against the Nix, but then again he hadn-t been on a scoring spree against them like he is now.
