Jamieson, Dodd looking forward to Adelaide test

Perth Glory defender Scott Jamieson feels his side are a match for any team in the A-League ahead of Friday’s clash with Adelaide United.

Sitting in fifth place on the ladder, Ian Ferguson’s side have struggled for consistency so far this term, but the in-form left-back believes much of the criticism levelled at them has been unjustified.

“Everyone looking in from the outside seems to think it’s all doom and gloom,” he said.

“But I think the media has been a bit harsh on us.

“Let’s be honest about it, we’re going all right.

“We’ve had a few indifferent results, but we’re not struggling and I think the media are on our backs a little bit at the moment which is fine, but inside we’re comfortable.

“We know there’s a few things we need to correct and we’ll do that.

“We don’t fear anyone.

“If I look at our team and the players I play with, I’m pretty confident that we can beat anyone on our day and that includes Adelaide.

“I respect Adelaide and the boys there, but I wouldn’t change any of our players for theirs, so I’m pretty confident, very excited and eager to get over there and try and get three points.”

Jamieson will be up against one of his former clubs on Friday night, as will fellow former Adelaide man Travis Dodd.

The winger was equally bullish regarding Glory’s prospects of securing a second away win of the season at a venue where they remain unbeaten in their last three visits.

“Adelaide are in great form and are certainly no easy-beats,” Dodd said.

“But we’ve happened to get some good results there in the past, so I think we can go there being positive and get a result.

“That ball tempo needs to be quicker so that we can catch teams on the break and create opportunities.

“In the first-half against Sydney I thought weJamieson did that really well, but in the second-half the structure broke down a bit and we left ourselves exposed.

“We’ve got a couple of sessions before the next game and that’ll definitely be something we’ll be looking to fix.”

Shane Smeltz, meanwhile, will be aiming to add to his goal tally having rediscovered his scoring touch with a spectacular brace against Sydney on Saturday.

And Dodd is backing the New Zealand marksman to continue his resurgence, especially if another frontman is brought on board to keep him on his toes.

“Scoring goals brings confidence and having gone through a period where he wasn’t getting on the scoresheet, that was great for Shane,” he said.

“Hopefully that’ll continue.

“I think the squad is pretty good, but with Billy (Mehmet) going, it does leave a vacancy there for a striker.

“I guess we’ve only got Smeltzy and young Ndumba (Makeche) who has stepped up from the youth team but hasn’t really had an opportunity.

“So I think we need to have another goalscorer on the books, someone who can put pressure on Smeltzy because it’s always good to have that competition for places.”