These two sides get their chance for a first win for the season and an opportunity to build some momentum after a tough first four weeks.
Date: Sunday September 21
Kick-off: 3:00pm local, 5pm AEST
Venue: Members Equity Stadium
TV and Radio: Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 2 and Sky Sports 1. Hyundai A-League club radio broadcast partner is 6PR (Perth) and Radio Network (Wellington) 1035AM. To purchase tickets visit www.ticketmaster.com.au
Head-to-head
Three A-League meetings: Perth – 0 wins, Wellington – 3 wins, Draws – 0
Previous meeting
Wellington 3, Perth Glory 0, Westpac Stadium, Round 16, December 2007
Results so far
Perth:
Round 1: Adelaide United 1 Perth Glory 0, Hindmarsh Stadium
Round 2: Perth Glory 3, Newcastle Jets 3, Members Equity Stadium
Round 3: Sydney FC 5, Perth Glory 2, Sydney Football Stadium
Round 4: Queensland Roar 3, Perth Glory 0, Members Equity Stadium
Wellington:
Round 1: Wellington Phoenix 1, Queensland Roar 1, Westpac Stadium
Round 2: Wellington Phoenix 2, Melbourne Victory 4, Westpac Stadium
Round 3: Adelaide United 3, Wellington Phoenix 0, Hindmarsh Stadium
Round 4: Wellington Phoenix 0, Central Coast Mariners 0, Westpac Stadium
Analysis
These two sides get their chance for a first win for the season and an opportunity to build some momentum after a tough first four weeks. Wellington’s managed two draws to date while Perth’s sole point came in the 3-3 draw with Newcastle in Round 2.
Glory coach Dave Mitchell said he would conduct a review into what has gone wrong in the first month of the season after admitting his side had capitulated in the 3-0 defeat to Queensland last week.
There were very few positives to take out of that match as the Roar dominated the first half and then were able to cruise to victory. It was Glory’s second three-goal defeat in as many games and questions have to be asked about the amount of pressure their defence has been put under.
Mitchell has included several players in a move which looks likely to result in a shake-up of his first XI. Nick Rizzo, Hayden Doyle, Mark Lee, Wayne Srhoj have been promoted and Naum Sekulovski and Jamie Harnwell return from injury. Amaral is the only mission and will miss three weeks with a hamstring injury. Josip Magdic, Hayden Foxe, James Downey and Dino Djulbic are all unavailable.
Wellington will have the confidence of a clean sweep of the Glory last season behind it as well as a solid performance against last year’s premiers Central Coast Mariners.
Two draws from four matches may not be the ideal start, but considering their two losses have come against Melbourne and Adelaide, which are currently first and third respectively, it’s not too bad of a predicament.
Ricki Herbert is not the sort of coach to get too flustered and hasn’t hit the panic button. He gets back Michael Ferrante and Adam Kwansik for this match, while Vaughan Coveny has been left out. Leo Bertos is another week away.
If either of these teams are going to challenge seriously for the top four, then they must win here. A loss condemns either of them to a clear spot on the bottom of the ladder and a real battle for the remainder of the year.
Perth Glory Squad. 1.Jason PETKOVIC (gk), 2.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 3.David TARKA, 4.Jamie COYNE (c), 5.Jamie HARNWELL, 7.Nick RIZZO, 8.James ROBINSON, 9.Adrian TRINIDAD, 11.Scott BULLOCH, 13.Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, 14.Eugene DADI, 15.Hayden DOYLE, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO, 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI, 21.Mark LEE, 22.Wayne SRHOJ, 24.Anthony SKORICH, 26.Jeff BRIGHT, 27.Stuart McLAREN, 30.Tando VELAPHI (gk)
* five to be omitted.
In. 5.Jamie HARNWELL (return from injury), 7.Nick RIZZO (promoted), 15.Hayden DOYLE (promoted), 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI (return from injury), 21.Mark LEE (promoted), 22.Wayne SRHOJ (promoted).
Out. 10.AMARAL (hamstring – 3 weeks).
Unavailable. Josip MAGDIC (ankle – 6 weeks), Hayden FOXE (foot – 3 weeks), James DOWNEY (calf – 1 week), Dino DJULBIC (suspended – 4 weeks).
Wellington Phoenix Squad. 1. Mark PASTON (gk), 3. Tony LOCHHEAD, 4. Jon McKAIN, 5. Karl DODD, 6. Tim BROWN, 9. Shane SMELTZ, 10. Michael FERRANTE, 11. DANIEL, 12. Richard JOHNSON, 13. Troy HEARFIELD, 15. Adam KWASNIK, 16. David MULLIGAN, 18. Ben SIGMUND, 20. Glen MOSS (gk), 21. Leilei GAO, 22. Andrew DURANTE (captain).
* one to be omitted.
In. 10. Michael FERRANTE (promoted), 15. Adam KWASNIK (return from injury).
Out. 8. Vaughan COVENY (omitted).
Unavailable. 7. Leo BERTOS (groin – 1 week), 17. Vince LIA (knee – season)
