Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell was delighted with his side after its third win of the season over the Phoenix on Sunday but admitted nerves almost got the better of his men.
Going into the match between the Hyundai A-League’s bottom two clubs, Mitchell said his players were especially nervous as a loss in this encounter would have left them five points adrift of Wellington and eight points off fourth position, leaving the club with plenty of work to do in the final 11 rounds to make the finals.
Mitchell said these concerns were partly responsible for an indecisive showing from the Glory during the first half, despite the club going ahead in the 15th minute through a coolly slotted shot by Nikita Rukavytsya, his first of the afternoon in the 2-0 result.
“I think it was very important (the result) and I think that showed with the players being very nervous the first half,” Mitchell said after the match.
“We couldn’t string too many passes together and although we went 1-0 up, I don’t think we played very well, the first half.”
“(I) had a few stern words at half time to say to the players and the second half was a much better performance and we kept a clean sheet which was great,” Mitchell said.
The Glory coach was especially happy not to have conceded a goal as he lost Hayden Foxe from his defence, the former Socceroo suffering hamstring soreness.
Foxe’s replacement, Dino Djulbic making his first start for the club since getting a red card and suspension against Sydney in round three, had looked solid but in the 64th minute was forced to come off after rolling his ankle.
The injury forced Mitchell into a major re-shuffle as he moved Jamie Harnwell from the attack back into central defence, bringing on French-Ivorian striker Eugene Dadi to partner Rukavytsya up front.
The move proved a sound one though, as an intelligent flick from Dadi allowed Rukavytsya to run into the final third and blast the Glory’s second goal beyond Phoenix stopper Mark Paston.
The result was the first time Perth has notched three wins at home in a row during the club’s Hyundai A-League history. It also took the Glory off the foot of the table and into seventh, on equal points with sixth-placed Newcastle ahead of the two sides facing each other at Members Equity next weekend.
But Mitchell is confident there will be no similar nerves when his players come out to face the Jets, especially as Foxe will be a likely addition to the squad.
“To grab three points today is a big relief for us and gives us a lot of confidence heading into next week,” Mitchell said.
“I don’t think they will be as nervous next week as this was such a critical game to give ourselves a chance to climb the ladder.”
“We set ourselves to make a big impact at home this season and we’re getting good results. It’s a form line we’re very keen to continue and it’ll be another big game coming up.”
