City defender Alex Wilkinson believes his side have the hardest run towards the Premier’s Plate as he prepares for the clash of the round on Sunday.
The Socceroo makes his return to the side this week after the international break and the defender says he’s feeling fresh to take on the final two matches of the regular season.
“I had a session after the game on Tuesday to top me up,” Wilkinson said.
“I was a bit behind when I first came to City and my fitness was just getting up to speed before I left, so the sessions I ran with the Socceroos were good and we did enough of them so no concerns at all.”
The two in-form teams of the competition go head to head in the final match of the round with City looking to secure top spot and the Glory desperate to secure a home final and Wilkinson believes both sides’ form will make it a mouth-watering contest.
“The run they are on at the moment, confidence is a huge thing,” he said.
“We’ve seen it in our dressing room with a lot of wins in a row, the confidence grows and the team starts performing and things work like clockwork. You get into the habit of winning and that’s what they’re in.
“They’re a difficult opponent. They’re a strong team, a physical team and they are very good on set pieces and crosses. They’ve scored a lot of goals from that avenue as well so we definitely have to be up for the fight and going to Perth, that’s going to be more difficult.
“Not too many teams have good records playing in Perth and on their home patch, it’s always difficult. I’m more than confident things can go our way.
With destiny in their own hands, Wilkinson can only draw positives from the situation, saying it’s the ideal situation to be in.
“It’s in our hands now, which is good,” he said.
“We haven’t been in that situation yet this season, we’ve been hoping other results go our way so now it’s all in our hands.
“Two wins and we’ll be top but two very difficult games and Perth have won 10 out of 11 now and obviously at home, they are very very strong.
“We’re confident we can get there and get a result and we’ll worry about Adelaide after that but all the focus is on Perth.”
City make the treck across the Nullarbor this Sunday, kick-off 7:00pm AEDT. Our final home match of the season is next Friday night when we face Adelaide United at AAMI Park, kick-off 7:40pm. Get your tickets today!
