A-League: Perth Glory finally heading home after huge stint away
Perth Glory will finally reunite with loved ones this week and gear up to host its first game in Western Australia in more than 100 days.
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Perth Glory is finally heading home after 106 days and coach Richard Garcia has every reason to keep on smiling.
Before jetting back across the Nullarbor, Glory ended its horror road trip with an impressive come-from-behind 2-2 draw with reigning champions Melbourne City on Wednesday evening.
Garcia and his travel-weary charges have gone through the wringer since going on the road indefinitely as they battled Covid and injury-related obstacles – compounding an already difficult set of circumstances.
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However, there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel for Glory’s players and staff as they’ll finally be reunited with friends and family this week.
“I don’t know how much more I can smile when you say we’re going home,” Garcia said.
“I think it’s a fantastic feeling knowing that we’re going to be home and back to a bit of normality. Just to be reunited with family is going to be very special. I think that’s going to be a very nice sleep for the guys tonight.”
Despite the excitement surrounding its return home, Garcia said his side would need to quickly shift its focus to this weekend’s clash against Adelaide United – ending a 106-day wait to host a game in Western Australia.
“They will get to spend time with the family and that’s the biggest one. That’s probably the biggest one. They get back to their normal routines, back to their normal houses – we’ve got people in the staff that have moved house and haven’t actually seen their new house. So, just a bit of that normality will be fantastic,” Garcia said.
“Then it’s back to business. We’ve got a heavy schedule now and the boys will be fully focused. We’ve also got to be able to use our whole squad and make sure everyone is ready to play.”
Meanwhile, City boss Patrick Kisnorbo lamented defensive lapses in concentration that ultimately led to his side surrendering an early two-goal lead.
“That’s football sometimes. I thought we were great and in those goals … we had a couple lapses in concentration and we get punished,” Kisnorbo said.
“It’s just one of those things that we need to improve on, but we’ll take positives out of the game and move on.”
Ahead of three games in the next 10 days, City will be sweating on the fitness of Mathew Leckie after he was forced off in the opening half with what he described to Paramount Plus as an “adductor” injury.
An extended lay-off for Leckie could come as not only a major blow to City but potentially for the Socceroos, who have two crucial World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia in late March.
“Unfortunately, we can’t control that (Leckie’s injury).” Kisnorbo said
“It’s part and parcel of the game, you don’t want to see anyone injured … I’ll need to see what happened and then see what’s next.”
Originally published as A-League: Perth Glory finally heading home after huge stint away
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