Perth Glory might have injury concerns, form issues and an on-fire Newcastle Jets to deal with on Boxing Day at ME Bank Stadium, but coach Dave Mitchell is confident of a win.
The Glory has just one win, five losses and three draws from their last nine matches to slip to seventh position on the A-League table, the first time this season they’ve been outside the top six.
The quest to break that dry run won’t be helped with striker Branko Jelic being ruled out, Wayne Srhoj also out with a knee injury and Victor Sikora an unlikely starter after feeling a twinge in his hamstring on Thursday.
What also won’t help is that a Jets side is coming to Perth brimming with confidence after four straight wins. Mitchell remains confident of quieting some of the critics with a good performance, though, while being cautious of how well Newcastle has been playing.
“In the early part of the season they were conceding a lot of goals and were frustrated. They were still playing well enough from all accounts and then (Michael) Bridges came into their side, and he’s a bit of a character and larrikin in their dressing room, and he’s picked things up a bit,” Mitchell said.
“When you’re on a roll and scoring goals it just seems to happen, likewise when you lose games it becomes a habit as well. That’s something you certainly want to snap out of quickly. Newcastle is a good side and it’s a difficult game, but one we have to take to them and win.”
Jelic has been Perth’s leading goalscorer this season with five and will again miss with an ankle injury, while Sikora is doubtful now with his hamstring.
“Unfortunately he’s (Jelic) not going to be fit for Boxing Day. Hopefully he will be back for the Sydney game now. He’s a quality player and when he doesn-t play it shows you the value he’s worth. Other players want opportunities, though, and will be looking forward to the chance,” he said.
“He (Sikora) felt a twinge in his hamstring. We will assess that now and hopefully it’s not too bad. It’s a situation where we have to be careful. If we play him and he goes off in the first five minutes we are down a man from the bench, so we have to be careful with what we do.”
That could open the door for out of favour import striker Eugene Dadi to return to the side. He has let his frustrations known about not being selected, but that appears to be water under the bridge as Mitchell looks to find a winning formula.
“Eugene has been in a situation that has been hard for him. The team had been doing well, but he’s working hard now and there’s a good chance he might take part,” he said.
“It’s time now where with a couple of injuries we are looking to change things a little bit. He’s been patient even though it has been frustrating and if he comes in I’m sure he’ll be hungry to prove me wrong and get the fans shouting again. He probably won’t start, but could be on the bench.”
Despite the form slump, Mitchell still rates his team as being a good one and expects them to make the finals of the A-League for the first time.
“We are a good football side and the last couple of weeks there’s been a bit of pressure applied and we haven-t played as well. We’ve got good enough and strong enough players with a lot of character to show that they are good enough to overcome that,” he said.
“Myself, the coaching staff and the players all feel we could have done better in the early part of the season when we were on top of teams. We certainly feel that we are good enough to make the six and win our home games. We are sitting one point out of the finals with eight games to go, so who would dare do that (write us off).”
