A-League Men: Perth Glory need to beat Auckland FC to avoid equalling league-record eighth straight home loss

No A-League Men’s club wants to be associated with the infamous New Zealand Knights — but another home loss by Perth Glory on Saturday would surpass a dreaded milestone set by the now-defunct club. Having already equalled the record initially set by the Knights — who won just six games across two seasons before folding — for the most losses in a row at home, the Glory are staring down eight losses at HBF Park in a row. Remarkably, if Perth do fail to beat ladder-leaders Auckland FC on Saturday night, they would not hold the record outright, with bottom of the table Brisbane Roar having made it eight losses at home on the bounce earlier this week. But yet another home loss in front of The Shed would see the Knights’ nearly 20-year record broken twice within the space of a few days and mean the Glory keep pace with Brisbane Roar in the poor home form stakes. It would also pile more pressure on first-time head coach David Zdrilic, who has still won just once in the league since taking over. The Glory look set for a boost ahead of their battle with Auckland, who boast the league’s best defence, with Zdrilic clearing captain and golden boot winner Adam Taggart of injury. Taggart was substituted off at half-time midweek in the loss to Sydney with groin soreness, but Zdrilic was confident he would feature against Auckland. “He was feeling tightness, we spoke about it at half time, he was willing to go on, but it was one of those that was risky,” Zdrilic said. “We didn’t want to risk him knowing we’ve got two games coming up. He’s recovering now and should be right.” Zdrilic was confident reinforcements would be arriving post-haste for the Glory when the transfer window swings open on January 16. Japanese media has reported full-back Takuya Okamoto and centre-back Yuto Misao, who have played almost 300 J1 League matches between them, are both close to finalising moves to the club. The Glory have two foreign player slots open following the mutual termination of Luis Canga and Cristian Caicedo’s contracts, but Zdrilic said any new signings would likely not be available until after next Tuesday’s match against Western Sydney Wanderers. “We have to assess exactly where they’re at in terms of their fitness, but all the players have been recently playing, so that’s a positive,” he said. “We want to get them in as soon as possible and we want to keep kicking on and make sure we turn things around very quickly and really make a run for the rest of the season.”