Perth marquee man Mile Sterjovski remains in doubt for the Glory’s clash with Gold Coast United as he struggles to recover from a leg injury in time for Sunday’s game.
According to coach Dave Mitchell, Sterjovski took a knock during the club’s 1-0 win over Adelaide in the last round and pulled up particularly sore following a training session this week.
Qantas Socceroo Sterjovski was seen wearing a protective boot on his left foot at Perth airport on Friday morning as the club travels east for the game at Skilled Park.
“He’s travelling okay,” was Mitchell’s cautious assessment of his striker/midfielder.
“He’s got the moonboot on but that’s just to keep a bit of pressure off his leg and it’s just a precaution really.”
“Last week in the game, he felt after that he was struggling a bit and one of the training sessions, the ground was quite hard, so he had a couple of days rest.”
“(So) he’ll start if he’s fit for sure. I’m looking to play him, but again if there’s a problem, we’ll see (if there is one) after the flight.”
The club can hardly afford an injury to Sterjovski, having lost influential central defender Andy Todd to a two-match suspension after the former Blackburn skipper was involved in a clash with Adelaide’s Scott Jamieson last week.
Mitchell, though, is confident the club’s got the depth to overcome Todd’s loss, saying it was most likely Jamie Coyne would move from right-back into the central position to partner brother Chris, with the promising Scott Neville returned to the starting team for the first time since the club’s 2-1 loss to Central Coast in Round 5.
There was some good news for the club, however, as skipper Jacob Burns returns to central midfield to add some extra defensive steel as the club looks to counter a virtually full-strength Gold Coast side this weekend.
With the exception of left-back Adama Traore, United is finally able to field one of its best line-ups this season as skipper Jason Culina and star striker Shane Smeltz return from international duty.
Regardless of their absence, United still defeated struggling Queensland rival Brisbane last week on the back of Joel Porter’s solitary goal, snapping a four-game winless streak that saw them lose top position to Sydney FC on the Hyundai A-League table.
However, Sydney’s loss to Adelaide on Friday night adds extra spice to this contest as both the Glory and Gold Coast are just two points adrift of the New South Welshmen, with the chance to move top of the table up for grabs.
Mitchell is more than aware United will subsequently be going all out to claim the three points, but said he’s confident his players can withstand the challenge, having seen the two sides draw 2-2 in Round 6.
“They’ve got all their players back and they’re in a bit of form now,” Mitchell said.
“But I’ll say we’ll be going to have a go at them.”
“You’ve still got to be a bit cautious and then hit them when you think it’s right (but) there is no point sitting back.”
“We think we’re as good as them and will go there with a mindset of having a go in an attacking and goal scoring sense,” he said.
