Glory's Taggart a chance to return against Jets
Written by on April 22, 2023
Perth Glory could be boosted by the return of Adam Taggart for Saturday night’s A-League Men clash with Newcastle, but star midfielder Salim Khelifi is no guarantee to play again this season.
Taggart’s brace after coming off the bench in the 3-1 win over Melbourne Victory a fortnight ago came at a cost after he tweaked his troublesome quad.
The setback ruled Taggart out of last Saturday’s 2-2 draw with the Phoenix in NZ, but the 29-year-old has trained well this week and is in line to return against the Jets at Macedonia Park.
“Tags is a chance,” Glory coach Ruben Zadkovich said on Thursday.
“He’s progressed well. The medical team has been doing a fantastic job working with him and Tags’ attitude has been first class.
“He’s doing everything he can. He’s got that little look in his eye like he wants to be there, which is always nice.”
Zadkovich said he will wait to see how Taggart trains on Friday morning before making a final decision.
“Obviously we want to win games and we want to get him out there in front of the fans and he wants to do that, but there is a long-term plan,” Zadkovich said.
“We’ll make the decision that’s best for the team and player.”
The news isn’t as good for Khelifi, who faces a race against time to play again this season.
Khelifi suffered a serious foot injury two weeks ago and no firm timeline has been set for his return.
“He’s in a moon boot at the moment and he’ll stay like that for a couple of weeks,” Zadkovich said.
“There will be more meetings with specialists.It’s a serious injury, but one that we can manage. It’s just going to take a little bit of time.”
When asked if Khelifi will be able to play again this season, Zadkovich replied: “Potentially.
“But that’s all up in the air. It’s speculative at the moment.”
Glory have risen to equal sixth on the back of a five-match unbeaten run.
Newcastle moved up to ninth following last week’s 4-0 thrashing of Brisbane.
Zadkovich forecast some changes to his XI this week after revealing a few of his players had been struck down by “niggles” from last week’s game.
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