Perth Glory coach Adam Griffiths does not feel like his team are too far off the pace despite two consecutive losses, but has challenged his side to be more clinical in killing off games.
Glory’s two-game winless run is part of a wide spell of five losses in seven games which has seen Perth slip in the race for a finals appearance since 2020.
With a visit forthcoming from top-of-the-table Auckland FC on Saturday night, Glory are 10th on the ladder and only three points off last-placed Central Coast Mariners, but still within six points of fourth spot.
Perth arguably shaded the first half of Sunday’s clash with Western Sydney Wanderers, but after Adam Taggart and Nicholas Pennington were unable to convert chances before the break, the hosts ran over the top of Glory in the second half and won 1-0 thanks to a late winner from former English Premier League winger Ryan Fraser.
While Griffiths said they would not drastically alter things and felt Perth were still competitive, the difference came down to execution in high pressure moments.
“We had some good moments in that game. We didn’t take them early, the momentum shifted in that last 20 minutes and we had a little bit of a lapse of concentration, and we conceded,” Griffiths said.
“We just have to work harder, really focus on those areas and start to become more clinical in those moments. If we become clinical, then we get more momentum, and we start to dominate.
“From our perspective, we’ve been very close in every game. We feel like we can beat anyone that we’ve played thus far.
“It’s about refocusing every day on those micro moments, honing in on them and seeing how we can continue to improve.
“I don’t think we will go too far away from what we’ve been doing. What we need to do is to focus on those smaller areas. The small margins is the difference, and we really need to pick up on those areas.”
Lachie Wales could feature, having completed his rehabilitation from a hamstring issue, while Griffiths said he would need to balance the minutes of returning players such as Wales, Jaiden Kucharski and Stefan Colakovski — the latter two who came off the bench late last week.
“It was difficult last week. We brought players back in, but they haven’t really done a huge amount of work,” he said.
“They’re all a week more in terms of their fitness levels, which is good. They’ve touched the ball more, they’ve worked a little bit harder.
“Lachie Wales is definitely someone that we will look to potentially bring in. As long as everything goes well for the next training session, then they’re all up for selection.”
