Belief is building that Perth Glory can gatecrash the Isuzu UTE A-League finals, but first they must conquer their road demons.
Saturday night’s 2-1 win over Macarthur at Macedonia Park moved Glory to within a point of sixth-placed Sydney FC with four rounds of the season remaining.
The result improved Glory’s home record to six wins, four losses and one draw.
Ten of those matches were played at Glory’s temporary home ground of Macedonia Park, which became somewhat of a fortress for Ruben Zadkovich’s men.
But Glory’s horror away form looms as a potential banana peel in their attempt to make the finals.
Perth have posted one win, two draws, and a whopping eight losses away from home this season.
Glory face Melbourne Victory (AAMI Park) and Sydney FC (Allianz Stadium) on the road over the next fortnight before finishing the season at home with games against Adelaide and Western United.
Zadkovich has seen enough signs this season to convince him that his team have what it takes to get results on the road.
Their most recent away trip was a 2-2 draw with Newcastle, when Glory scored the equaliser at the death.
“Down twice against the Jets to come back shows a lot of character,” Zadkovich said.
“Down 2-0 away to Wellington shows a lot of character to get a point there. We beat Central Coast away from home earlier in the season.
“There are positives there, we know what we’re capable of, but consistency is the biggest thing.
“We go to Melbourne with no fear and (we want to) go and play our best and put our best foot forward.”
Glory will again be without striker David Williams, who is battling a calf strain.
Aaron McEneff is in doubt after limping off against Macarthur with a quad injury.
Zadkovich, who is in his first full season in charge of Glory, said the belief within his squad was big.
“We want to play finals,” he said.
“We’d love to do that for our fans more than anything, because the club’s been through a lot.
“But there’s four very tough games left, and we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.”
Macarthur are three points adrift of sixth spot.
But with even last-placed Brisbane (five points adrift of sixth) still in the finals hunt, it will be game on during the final four rounds.
“I think any team can make the top six. It’s exciting for the fans,” Bulls coach Mile Sterjovski said.
“But for us, it’s pretty nerve wracking. Each week we’re trying to get the points to get in there, and I believe we can still do it.”
