Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell is expecting a fired-up Central Coast when the two sides clash on Friday night in Canberra.
The Glory may be coming off two straight victories and the Mariners may not have earned three points since the opening round but Mitchell won’t be taking them lightly as the Glory haven’t beaten Lawrie McKinna’s men since Mitchell took charge in November 2007.
Indeed, the Western Australians have only been victorious in one of 12 clashes with the Mariners since the A-League began and a 1-0 loss on New Year’s Eve last year all but ended the Glory’s late-season charge at the top four.
Perth has one of its best chances to break the drought though, as the Mariners have been forced to move their home game to the neutral surrounds of the nation’s capital as Gosford’s Bluetongue Stadium is in use.
But after McKinna questioned his players’ desire following last week’s 1-0 loss to Brisbane, the Glory coach is expecting a tough clash.
“I know Lawrie, I know him very well,” Mitchell said.
“We worked together for five years and he’ll have them pumped and normally they don’t lose two in a row, (so) they’ll be ready for us I’m sure.”
“Where we’re probably at an advantage is that they’re not playing at home, they’re playing in Canberra so hopefully we can go there and pick up some points.”
“(But) they’re always committed. They’re pretty strong all over.”
“They’re a big side. They can mix and match it, you know. You want to be tough and bully them, they can do the same back and they play some good football as well.”
“So all round, they’re a good side … and it will be a challenge for us but one we go into with confidence and one we’re looking forward to,” he said.
Having brought numerous new faces to the Glory during the off-season, Mitchell hasn’t shirked from the fact it’s taken time for his players to gel, especially as many of them only arrived a few weeks out from the season starting.
But he said a combination of confidence from the wins and having time to train together had started bringing out the club’s best football as the Glory defeated Newcastle and Melbourne over the past fortnight to climb into fourth on the table.
“We’ve had players from England moving over here,” Mitchell said.
“Jacob (Burns) has been from Romania, Branko (Jelic) has come from Germany, so it takes time for them to settle in and feel comfortable in their environment.”
“They’re not robots. You flick the switch and they go out and they run about and do what you say straight away.”
“It’s take time for them to get involved in their environment the way we play, the lifestyle, there’s all different things that takes time for people to settle into countries.”
“We always said we were going to be a bit of a slow burner this year as the players come together, but we’ve got some quality players there and we’re getting to know each other week by week,” he said.
