Castro urges Perth towards ultimate glory as Victory lie in wait

Perth Glory’s Spanish superstar Diego Castro is thrilled his side are sitting atop the Hyundai A-League ladder but remains cautious as they edge towards a maiden Premiers Plate.

With nine games remaining, Glory hold a six-point lead over second-placed Melbourne Victory ahead of the two teams’ meeting on Sunday.

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Castro said that while first place was something to be proud of, Glory needs to remain consistent.

“For us the most important thing is the consistency…I think this year every game is different, different plan, and I think it will be an important game for us if we can get a good result,” Castro said.

“We will see what happens in the end if we achieve something…now we are at the top and we need to fight with every team…we are happy in our position.”

The 36-year old missed much of the first half of the season with a hamstring injury but said he had recovered in time for the business end of the campaign.

“I started unfortunately with an injury but to be honest now I feel better…happy to join the team when we are fighting for something special,” he said.

“We have been playing consistently, we look good…we have a big challenge in front of us, we need to embrace it and enjoy of course.”

His manager Tony Popovic echoed Castro’s thoughts, happy with the performances so far but urging his chargers to keep their levels up.

“We’re on top, we certainly deserve to be there, we’ve shown that, we’ve been consistent,” Popovic said.

“We’ve got a big challenge coming up, I know it’s an easy one to say but we’re going one game at a time.

“We’re certainly aware we are on top and we’re viewed as a top team and the questions will be asked, can they stay there, for us we keep showing every week that we deserve to be a team that’s at the top.”

Popovic revealed he hadn’t been surprised by Victory’s form this season, praising their star-studded line-up.

"Victory have picked up a lot of results, they score regularly and have many dangerous players on the park,” he said.

"It's a club that when you looked at their line-up at the start of the season, you expected them to be challenging and they are challenging.”