Horsley heading for first start

Perth Glory crowd favourite Matt Horsley looks set to make his first start of the season against Melbourne Victory on Sunday, with Jamie Coyne having picked up a groin strain.

Horsley has made just two brief substitute appearances in the Hyundai A-League so far and will be determined to impress.

The four-time NSL champion was an 85th minute substitute against Queensland Roar on September 10 but picked up a groin strain which kept him out of the following round. First team opportunities have been limited so far this season and Horsley's only other appearance was as a replacement for Steve McMahon Jnr in the 84th minute of the 4-0 defeat at Central Coast Mariners last Sunday.

"Jamie Coyne won’t make the weekend, he’s out, which is a body blow to us so that affects my thinking," the Glory head coach said.

"There’s no good tinkering with anybody else. Matty (Horsley) is a fullback so Matty will start, that’s for sure."

But there may be more changes to the team due to the disappointing performance in Gosford.

"I am certainly thinking about it (making changes) that’s for sure. It’s the opposite from last week because after a great result I think the team almost picked itself and now this week it is the opposite. If you go on the back of a 4-0 defeat it’s my job to look at the situation and, if it needs changing, change it.

"I want to send messages to everybody. With a small scale squad you can’t make wholesale changes because of the squad system but it is certainly something that I am considering very strongly.

"All of those players should have had a few sleepless nights, as I have over the last few days. It’s not nice to come home on the back of a defeat like that. I hope the players have thought about a few issues and how they could have done better. I certainly have and I don’t think anybody would be surprised if they were left out."

Steve McMahon Jnr has overcome a knock sustained above his knee in last weekend’s match while Simon Colosimo and Brian Deane will both be back in the squad. Jamie Coyne joins David Tarka for a brief period on the sidelines but could be available again for next week’s trip to Queensland Roar.

Perth Glory Squad: Petkovic, Horsley, Colosimo, Harnwell, McMahon Jnr, Miller, Ward, Despotovski, Vasilevski, Ishida, Kovacevic, Celeski, Deane, Young, Fa’arodo, Sekulovski, Jovanic, Caceres, Mori.

A-League Round 9
Perth Glory vs Melbourne Victory
Sunday October 23, 2005
Members Equity Stadium, Perth - 5:00pm (WA).