Perth Glory will head into the 2024-25 Ninja A-League season without two international recruits and star midfielder Susan Phonsongkham, head coach Stephen Peters confirmed just days out from Round 1.
The new Glory boss revealed Phonsongkham is expected to miss three to four months with an ankle injury sustained while playing for Preston Lions in the NPLW Victoria Grand Final in September.
The 23-year-old will be joined on the sidelines by international recruits Megan Wynne and Onyinyechi Zogg for the start of the season as Peters heads into his first campaign as Glory head coach without three of the squad’s most experienced players.
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Glory travel to Victoria to take on reigning Premiers Melbourne City at ctrl:cyber pitch on Sunday afternoon in the opening round of the 2024-25 Ninja A-League campaign.
“Susan’s got an ankle injury that she’s unfortunately carried into the pre-season from the NPL Grand Final,” Peters said.
“She’ll be out for a period of time — we’re looking at three to four months. That’s a significant challenge for us, because she’s a player with great quality.
“It was a couple of bumpy weeks for her, navigating through the decision on what to do and how to navigate through that but she’s come through that pretty well, she’s been around the group and helping the group.
“Unfortunately for us, we have (two of) our internationals out injured at the moment: Megan Wynne and Onyi Zogg. It’s going to be a challenge for us but with someone out, then the next person’s just got to step up, that’s got to be our mantra. As long as we’ve got 11 players on the field, we’re going to give an effort and put in a performance that everyone will be proud of.”
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TAKE NOTE: 10 storylines to follow this season
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Zogg was named Glory co-captain alongside Isobel Dalton at the club’s season launch in mid-October but the Nigeria international will miss the start of the season with what Peters describes as a “strange” plantaris muscle injury in her knee.
“Onyi’s actually got a really strange one. She’s got a plantaris injury, which is a bit weird,” he said.
“It’s not really a structural thing, it’s just more of a pain management thing, so she’s working with the medical team, we’re looking to hopefully have her back sooner rather than later.”
Welsh international Megan Wynne, meanwhile, has a wrist injury and will be sidelined for “about three weeks,” says Peters.
“She’s actually got a wrist injury, which is just a little bit complex in terms of what needs to happen for her to get 100% right, and there’s a couple of other niggles that she can rest up in that time.”
Glory face City at ctrl:cyber Pitch on Sunday, November 3 with kick-off at 3pm AEDT.
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