Perth Glory coach Alistair Edwards is set to hand Ndumba Makeche his first A-League start away to Melbourne Victory after the youngster impressed off the bench last week.
Perth Glory coach Alistair Edwards is set to hand Ndumba Makeche his first A-League start away to Melbourne Victory after the youngster impressed off the bench last week.
Makeche, 21, has only made three substitute appearances in three seasons with the Glory, tallying 58 minutes of first-team action in total.
He replaced Jamie Maclaren on the hour mark in the Glory’s 4-2 win at home to Wellington Phoenix last time out, and the Zambian-born forward will now be promoted to the starting XI for the clash at AAMI Park on Friday.
“The best thing about what’s happening at the club is that everyone in the squad believes that they’ve got a realistic chance of being in the match-day squad,” Edwards said.
“So it keeps everyone on their toes. But it also gives every player belief … if they’re playing well in the youth team.
“Ndumba Makeche will start against Melbourne Victory because he’s performing well. And he’s part of the squad that we believe in. They’re good signs moving forward.”
It remains to be seen if Maclaren or Chris Harold will drop out of the first team to make way for Makeche, with Edwards able to deploy the former in a deeper role behind the central striker if he chooses to.
“The best thing about Jamie is he can play as a number nine, he can also play in behind the striker. He did that with the Young Socceroos, so there’s a lot of versatility within our team,” he said.
Edwards said his young players will embrace the challenge of playing in front of what is sure to be a good crowd at AAMI Park, the scene of a dramatic 3-2 Glory win over the Victory in March.
“A lot of teams might get intimidated by that but it’s quite the opposite with us,” he said.
“Everyone’s really looking forward to it. I think that’s been mentioned about four or five times amongst the players during the week, about how much they’re looking forward to playing at what is probably the best boutique stadium in the country, and what will probably be one of the biggest crowds they’ve played in front of this year.”
