Perth midfielder Victor Sikora is on track to play against Wolverhampton and Fulham during July but doubts linger over several Glory youngsters still recovering from lingering injuries.
Speaking after a brutal 90-minute kickboxing session, Glory fitness and conditioning coach Peter Cklamovski said he expected Dutch midfielder Sikora to play as a substitute during the two high profile friendlies against the English Premiership sides.
But he wasn’t so sure young striker Anthony Skorich would recover from an ankle injury in time, adding that defender Scott Neville and fellow youngster Brent Griffiths were also in danger of missing as they recuperate from groin complaints.
“We’re hoping we have a few back for Wolves and Fulham,” Cklamovski said.
“Vic, I think will get some minutes in that game but it just depends on the next two or three weeks, how the others progress.”
“Tonchi’s (Skorich) probably not quite there yet and he’s got a lot of work to do in many areas to get himself 100 per cent fit, so he might be a good couple of weeks away.”
“We’ve had to monitor a Skorich, Neville and Griffiths a fair bit and kind of restricted their work load.”
“They’ve been in rehab but they’re starting to come back now, so the next lets say two or three weeks hopefully and we’ll have a full squad to pick from and that will give Mitch (coach Dave Mitchell) some nice headaches in terms of team selection.”
Having graduated from the Glory’s National Youth League side, Neville made an impressive first team debut at right back in Perth’s late-season 3-2 win over premiers Melbourne, while Skorich was on target against the Roar in the final round of 2008-09.
Cklamovski, though, formerly a fitness coach for Greek side Panahaiki, said the kickboxing sessions were a good way to mix-up training sessions as he looks to push his charges’ physical fitness and keep them mentally fresh for a longer season ahead.
“They certainly try their best so, but I’m not sure their careers’ going to be in boxing or kickboxing,” Cklamovski said.
“But it challenges them physically and mentally in different ways and they have fun and so that’s the whole point behind it and I think it will pay dividends for us.”
“We still have some work to do but we’ve had a really good start to pre-season and this is Week 9 so we’re in game mode now.”
“It’s going to be very important for us to get 90 minutes in week in, week out before Round 1, but the boys have felt pretty good on Friday night against Adelaide and that’s a reward for all the hard work they’ve been putting in.”
