Perth will be without five of its star players for this weekend’s clash against Sydney at Parramatta Stadium, Glory coach David Mitchell confirmed on Thursday.
Captain Jacob Burns, goalkeeper Tando Velaphi and midfielders Mile Sterjovski, Adriano Pellegrino and Viktor Sikora have all been ruled out because of injury.
All five players are expected to be fit for next week’s match against Brisbane Roar but with the finals approaching a ‘no risk’ approach was taken.
But Mitchell has faith in the depth of his squad and is confident of a good showing on Sunday.
“That’s the good thing about having a little bit of depth while the players have been injured the balance has still been good,” he said.
“Going into the game the boys hold no fears.”
It’s the second time in five weeks Perth will play Sydney, after the two sides drew 0-0 at ME Bank Stadium on January 4.
“I spoke to Vitezslav after the game and he conceded they were on the back foot. We had chance after chance but just couldn’t finish them off,” Mitchell said.
“They’ve got one of the best defences in the league and it’s not by coincidence they are close to the top of the league so it will be a difficult task for us but one we are going into with confidence.”
With four wins and a draw in their last five matches, the Glory now occupy fourth spot on the Hyundai A-league table and a win this weekend will move them to within three points of third-placed Sydney with one match to play.
But Mitchell is fully aware that it will take a minor miracle for his side to jump up to third.
“I think players are eager to play and looking forward to playing and when you’ve been winning the confidence grows within the team.”
“There is good harmony and we are pretty buoyant going into the game and as I say fourth spot is up for grabs now so it’s a big incentive for us.”
“Third spot is for Sydney to lose. Obviously we’d have to beat them and then they’d have to lose their last game and then we’ll need to win both our games which is well within the realms of reality but we are looking at that fourth spot because that’s the one that is certainly within our reach.”
