Risdon, Dodd keeping faith in Glory

Perth Glory duo Josh Risdon and Travis Dodd insist their side’s confidence has not been dented by a recent run of indifferent results.

A haul of only two points from their last three games, two of which were at home, have seen Ian Ferguson’s men slip out of the top four.

But right-sided defender Risdon and his midfield colleague remain convinced that Friday night’s showdown with Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park will herald a return to winning ways.

“We haven’t got the results we’ve wanted, but the boys are still confident,” Risdon said.

“We’ve had two draws and a loss in our last three games, so it’s important for us to go away this weekend and get three points.

“Obviously a few boys will be unavailable. Jacob (Burns) is suspended and Scott (Jamieson) and Michael (Thwaite) are likely to be away with the Socceroos, but we’ve got depth in the squad with players who can come in and do just as good a job.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Dodd who is set to be handed the captain’s arm-band in the absence of regular skipper Burns.

“I don’t think confidence is an issue to be honest,” Dodd said.

“We are playing some decent football.

“At times last weekend it was a bit patchy, there were times when we kept the ball and played some really good football and there were times when we made some poor decisions and silly mistakes and we turned over too much possession.

“But I think overall, over the last few weeks, we’ve been playing some decent football and it’s nothing to be greatly concerned about.

“It’s a matter of being able to keep the ball a bit better and finish off those chances in front of goal.”

Dodd went on to claim that despite their three-game winless streak, he believes the men in purple are still in better shape than they were at the corresponding stage of last season.

“It’s been a mixed season so far for us,” he said.

“But I think we are in a better position than we were last year and the football we’re playing is also better than it was last year.

“In saying that though, we’ve dropped points when we clearly shouldn’t have.

“We should definitely be higher than we are on the ladder.

“At Sydney away we were 1-0 up and should have won, but lost 2-1.

“Then we should have picked up something against Western Sydney Wanderers at home a fortnight ago when they were down to 10 men and we should have won last weekend as well.

“Unfortunately we didn’t and that makes it a bit harder, but we’re still backing ourselves to be there.

“The confidence is there, we’ve just got to keep backing ourselves on and off the park and we’ll be right there at the end.”

Risdon, meanwhile, revealed that coach Ferguson had admonished his side over their inability to retain possession and demanded to see a significant improvement in that area on Friday.

“I think we’re just turning the ball over too many times,” the right-back said.

“Fergie spoke to us just before training today and said we gave the ball away something like 50 times on Saturday which wasn’t something we wanted to hear.

“In the first few games we were only giving it away 20 or 30 times, so we need to get back down to that kind of amount and if we do that, I think the wins will come.

“I think we’re trying to force things that aren’t there and we’ve just got to keep the ball better.

“When we keep the ball, we determine the game.”