Perth midfielder Adriano Pellegrino says the Glory will be out to take on Melbourne Victory playing its own game when the two sides meet at ME Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
In a clash of contrasting styles, the Glory will take their wider style of play, where they often use the wings for attacks, and use it against a more compact Victory side that tends to play through the middle of the park.
In the last three matches between the teams, the Glory have come out on top with three consecutive wins. But after a quiet start to its premiership defence, the Victory have hit their straps in this campaign winning five of the last six games to be second on the Hyundai A-League table as they travel to Perth.
The Glory in the meantime have lost their last two games on the road to Gold Coast United and North Queensland, but Pellegrino believes the club can respond emphatically at home this weekend, and use its own style to overwhelm the Victorians.
“Melbourne’s travelling very, very well,” said Pellegrino.
“They’ve picked up some form after not starting very well and they’re always a dangerous side, they’ve got great attacking qualities.”
“They do play a little bit narrower, they try to exploit the midfield and get some more bodies in there while (Carlos) Hernandez and Archie (Thompson), float around and get that goal.”
“But at the same time, we’ve got to worry about our game plan, whatever it might be for this week. We’ll work on that and we’ll work on consistency.”
“We know we’ve done well against Melbourne (recently) so now we’ve got to pick up the points at home (again) and keep winning and getting results,” he said.
Ironically, Pellegrino’s own form this season has somewhat mirrored the Victory’s.
Last season’s Most Glorious Player struggled to assert himself on the contest during the early stages as he struggled to overcome a persistent heel injury and being marked more aggressively by opposition sides, well aware of his lethal crosses from the right.
But the 25-year-old South Australian has gradually built up his form and confidence over the past two months and proved brilliant in a central midfield role deputising for suspended skipper Jacob Burns when the Glory beat Adelaide 1-0 in the club’s last home match.
“I had that recurring heel problem for a few weeks and it was a bit difficult trying to work on that and play through that and travelling at the same time,” he said.
“But I pulled through that and that’s been fine and touch wood, I’ve been injury free over the last couple of months.”
“(But) even though you might be happy with the personal performance, it’s still all about the team and working hard together as a group to maintain a good level of results.”
“It’s tough coming off two losses but we know we can perform well at home and with a home crowd coming out we should be raring to go and get a good result.”
While Pellegrino occupies the right wing, he’ll be without his opposite number on the left as Dutchman Victor Sikora has been ruled out for two matches with a hamstring injury.
The club’s marquee man Mile Sterjovski also remains in doubt with an ankle injury, while the Victory loses impressive defender Surat Sukha for this match after he injured his hamstring in training earlier this week.
