Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson is expecting Adelaide United to overcome their gruelling schedule and injury crisis to provide a difficult challenge for his in-form side on Sunday.
Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson is expecting Adelaide United to overcome their gruelling schedule and injury crisis to provide a difficult challenge for his in-form side on Sunday.
The Hyundai A-League match against Glory at Hindmarsh Stadium will be Adelaide's third in eight days, following a 3-2 road loss to Central Coast and a 1-1 midweek draw with Newcastle in Bathurst.
They'll also be without several of their key veteran players, with Cassio (foot), Milan Susak (hamstring), Jon McKain (knee) and Zenon Caravella (adductor) among those on the injured list.
The injuries have helped contribute to a drop in United's form, as they're winless in their past four games.
But Ferguson said he expected a determined effort from an Adelaide team desperate to get back into the finals race.
"No matter who plays or who they've got out we know it's going to be a difficult job," he said.
"They've got a good structure about them, they're well organised and they're fighting for each other and they're playing well."
"We've got to be in the right frame of mind, stick with what we've done over past five or six weeks and hopefully take the game to them."
"We're heading in the right direction, which is great, and we've been getting some great results over the past month."
Perth enters the match in fantastic touch, with their sixth game unbeaten streak having seen them climb to fifth and sit just four points outside the top two, but have injury problems of their own.
Ferguson said defender Josh Mitchell remains two to three weeks away with knee soreness which hasn't improved over the past fortnight, while the coach was optimistic Travis Dodd and Dean Heffernan could push for a return against Gold Coast on February 6.
Despite the injuries, the impressive form of attackers Shane Smeltz, Billy Mehmet and Mile Sterjovski has helped to keep young striker Adam Taggart out of the Glory team.
The promising young striker was named in the Qantas Australian U23s squad for February's Olympic qualifiers in spite of his lack of match time and Ferguson said he would do all he could to keep him involved in first-team action.
"He's getting a little bit frustrated because he's not getting first-team football but it's a hard one for me as well," he said.
"He's got huge potential and I don't want to let him go ... but it's difficult for a young one trying to break in."
"Adam is basically for the future, along with Jesse Makarounas and (Josh) Risdon. When it's time to play them, we'll know."