despite struggling with an ankle injury. If Sterjovski doesn't come up, Mitchell may have an issue on the left as Dutchman Victor Sikora will miss the next fortnight with a hamstring injury, forcing the coach to rely on the promising but inexperienced Todd Howarth and Andrija Jukic against Melbourne.
Victory coach Ernie Merrick has made just one change himself, bringing in the experienced Rody Vargas for Thai defender Surat Sukha, who's injured his hamstring. Having suffered through a poor injury run, a good portion of the Melbourne side won't have experienced travelling to Perth before and as a result the psychological hoodoo may not apply. The coach will therefore look to the lightening Mate Dugandzic to inspire after scoring twice last week against Adelaide. But for the ones afflicted by the Nullabor curse, like Kevin Muscat, Vargas, Carlos Hernandez and Archie Thompson they'll also be determined to start squaring the recent ledger against the Glory.
Hernandez, though, is shaping as the pivotal player. If Perth concedes free kicks thirty metres out, they could be crucified by the Costa Rican dead ball specialist. But Hernandez will likely be closely marked by Glory skipper Jacob Burns and his lack of pace could still be exploited by the in-form Wayne Srhoj, while the Victory are all too aware of Branko Jelic's lethal touch up front as well.
Perth Glory Squad: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 3.Jamie COYNE, 4.Andy TODD, 6.Chris COYNE, 7.Jacob BURNS (c), 10.Wayne SRHOJ, 11.Branko JELIC, 12.Scott NEVILLE, 13.Scott BULLOCH, 14.Eugene DADI, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO, 17.Todd HOWARTH, 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI, 20.Aleks VRTESKI (gk), 21.Mile STERJOVSKI, 23.Andrija JUKIC
*one to be omitted*
In: Mile STERJOVSKI (return from injury), Andy TODD (return from suspension)
Out: Victor SIKORA (hamstring – 3 weeks)
Unavailable: Jimmy DOWNEY (knee – 2 weeks), Brent GRIFFITHS (hamstring – 5 weeks), Jamie HARNWELL (knee – 5 weeks)
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Mitchell LANGERAK (gk), 2.Kevin MUSCAT (c), 3.Mate DUGANDZIC, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Matthew KEMP, 8.Grant BREBNER, 10.Archie THOMPSON, 11.NEY FABIANO, 12.Rodrigo VARGAS, 13.Nathan ELASI, 16.Carlos HERNANDEZ, 17.Matthew FOSCHINI, 20.Glen MOSS (gk), 23.Adrian LEIJER, 27.Sutee SUKSOMKIT
In: Rodrigo VARGAS (return from injury)
Out: Surat SUKHA (hamstring - TBC)
Unavailable: Marvin ANGULO (pending registration), Evan BERGER (thigh - 1 week), Billy CELESKI (knee - season), Robbie KRUSE (hamstring - 1 week), Steven PACE (calf - 1 week), Tom PONDELJAK (calf - 3-5 weeks), Nick WARD (infection - 1 week)