Perth visit wounded Victory looking to ‘flick the switch’ again

Liam Reddy believes this Friday’s away trip to Melbourne Victory offers Perth Glory the chance to ignite their stuttering Hyundai A-League season.

The reigning Premiers sit seventh on the ladder after seven matches played and were beaten 3-1 by Champions Sydney FC in their own backyard last Saturday.

Having only lost three times during the regular 2018/19 campaign, that defeat to the Sky Blues was the second for Tony Popovic’s side this season, one which sees them 10 points off early pacesetters Melbourne City.

However, Glory will have no shortage of inspiration to draw from against Victory on Friday as they return to AAMI Park, the scene of two vintage away performances from Popovic’s men last season.

In October, Chris Ikonomidis snatched a thrilling 3-2 win with a stoppage time goal to grant Popovic his first win at the helm and mark Perth as a genuine contender in the Premiership race.

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When they returned to Victoria in February, Glory consolidated their status as the best team in Australia at the time and practically sealed the Premiers Plate by opening up a seven-point gap over Victory with a 2-1 win.

Both triumphs were season-defining, and highlighted that the days of Perth’s traditional meekness outside of WA were a thing of the past.

And, as Popovic remarked last week, this is a fixture the Glory boss will demand his charges to win in order to continue their climb into the Hyundai A-League elite.

Reddy, meanwhile, believes a win would do wonders in the context of their season.

“Looking back at last year’s [Round 2] win, that was a real turning point for us.

“We went 2-0 up and they came back to make it 2-2… I think previously we might’ve actually gone down and lost that game 3-2, or maybe just hung on.

“But Chris [Ikonomidis] popped up and got the winner and that really flicked a switch for us. Hopefully we can do something similar.”

Perth Glory face Melbourne Victory in Round 8 this Friday evening, 29 November, with kick off at 7.30pm AEDT.
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