Perth Glory could make at least one change in the final third for Friday night’s away clash with Brisbane Roar, with attacking midfielder Henry Hore under an injury cloud.
It comes as coach Adam Griffiths is pushing his team’s attackers to fully embrace a goalscoring mentality and adapt to free-roaming captain Tom Lawrence’s on-pitch movements.
Perth have stayed on the east coast following their late collapse against Macarthur as late drama proved their undoing in their 2-1 defeat.
But former Roar forward Hore appears set to miss the meeting with his old club at Suncorp Stadium after suffering a hamstring issue in the opening game. He played the entirety of the first half before being substituted five minutes after the restart.
“He was complaining of some tightness in the first half and then said he was fine, so we left him on, and he just didn’t look like he was moving well, so we took him off,” Griffiths said.
“He’s going to get some scans, and we’re looking to see how he progresses for the rest of the week, but it’s disappointing because he’s played the entirety of the pre-season.
“He’s done all the work and having that happen, where he felt some tightness, was disappointing.”
Griffiths also revealed they were keeping an eye on the fitness of midfielder Calem Nieuwenhof after he complained of tightness late in the game.
Perth had nine shots against Macarthur with six on target, but could only convert one of them. With club great Adam Taggart no longer at the club, Perth do not have a proven A-League goal-scorer on their books.
Griffiths said round one starter Sebastian Depostovski and substitutes Jaiden Kucharski and Pieter Jacobsz were all at varying levels of physical readiness.
“I want them to be in goal-scoring positions. I want them to have the mindset that anyone in that front line should be thinking goals. They should be thinking ‘I need to be in positions where I can get goals,’” Griffiths said.
“JK is still returning to full fitness, so we have to be mindful of him. Jacobsz has come from an NPL season, and he’s just adjusting to full-time training.
“Despo has more ability to take that opportunity right now. He has a lot of value in terms of his pressing intensity. He needs to focus in those critical moments.
“I believe that he can, and he can take his game to another level — and if he can, it’s fantastic for us.”
Lawrence was arguably Perth’s best player in the loss against Macarthur, and while his quality in the final third was never more evident than his superb finish for Glory’s lone goal, Griffiths said the Welshman’s ability to drop into midfield was a significant attribute.
“We scored a goal from a high press into a transition at speed, and he executed really well. Sometimes in the middle third, he tries to drag players out, but also overload different areas, and he’s good at that as well,” he said.
“It’s going to be different moments within different phases of the game we can utilise Tom. He does have more of a free role, and it’s about all of us starting to understand what he’s trying to do for the team to create more space somewhere else.”