Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell won’t be guaranteeing former captains Jamie Coyne and Jamie Harnwell a starting position for Sunday’s big clash with Gold Coast United at ME Bank Stadium.
Versatile veteran Harnwell hasn’t played this season after suffering a serious hamstring injury in July while Coyne hurt his knee during the Glory’s Round 1 loss to Adelaide.
But Mitchell has said both are fit to play against the Gold Coast, although the coach still hasn’t made up his mind on the starting line-up as he’s not convinced the pair can play a full 90 minutes.
“There’s always a balance you have to be careful with,” said Mitchell ahead of training on Wednesday.
“I think they could start, but it depends on how long they can actually play.”
“You have to just watch the numbers because if you have three or four guys that can’t last a full game, then you’ve got to make substitutions and then you might cop one or two injuries.”
“(But) there’s a lot of options now. The boys are fit … they’re looking sharp and we’ve got a bit of a run tonight with them, having a bit of a hitout with some young boys and it will determine how good they look from that, for they haven’t played in a long time,” he said.
If fit, defender Coyne is a likely replacement for Scott Neville at right back as the youngster’s been forced to rest for most of this week after suffering a bout of flu that affected his performance in last Friday night’s 2-1 loss to Central Coast in Canberra.
Harnwell, meanwhile, looks likely to take striker Matthew Mayora’s position on the bench, but the Glory may struggle to replace left midfielder Victor Sikora, who was taken off early against the Mariners after taking a knock to his knee.
Sikora hasn’t trained at all this week so far and Mitchell is hopeful the Dutchman will come good in time to make an impact against the table-topping Gold Coast side.
Having seen his side beat Newcastle and Melbourne in both their home fixtures this season, Mitchell refused to be daunted by United.
“At the moment, they’re the most consistent team, that’s why they’re the top of the league,” Mitchell said.
“They’ve got a very good blend. They’re very potent up front with the strike force they’ve got and defensively they’ve been solid.”
“They’ve got good playmakers in midfield but as Newcastle showed, they’re not infallible,” Mitchell said, referring to the Jets’ Round 4 win over the A-League new boys.
“That’s definitely what we’ll be looking at, to take the game to them and get the three points.”
Despite beating Sydney FC last weekend and returning to the top of the competition standings, United has endured a difficult week, losing key midfielder Joel Porter to a calf injury that will see him miss the next three matches.
Gold Coast coach Miron Bleiberg may have a quality replacement in Brazilian Milson to fill the void but the coach will be concerned with striker Shane Smeltz’s preparation as the New Zealand international plays for his country in Jordan on Thursday night before flying to Perth in billionaire owner Clive Palmer’s private jet for Sunday’s game.
