Perth Glory boss Kenny Lowe admits he did some handy business picking up injury replacement Mitch Mallia just days after the season start.
Mallia’s super assist for Andy Keogh’s 80th minute winning goal against Adelaide United on Saturday night had Fox Sports pundit Mark Bosnich heaping praise on the 25-year-old.
Bosnich described his cross to the far post as a “wonderful piece of brilliance” and Lowe agreed “the kid” had something when he set up the decider just eight minutes after running onto the pitch.
But it was an earlier assist for Blacktown City, which almost knocked Western Sydney out of the FFA Cup, that first caught Lowe's attention.
“I was actually analysing the game – we were to play Western Sydney Wanderers and the only game we had (to look at), because it was the first game of the season, was the Blacktown game," Lowe told Fox Sports.
“And in that game I thought- oh he’s alright.
“Then we got an injury that week, it’s ironic when you look at it something like that. We get an injury in that position and you think oh bollocks – let’s just get the kid and give him a chance.”
It paid off at nib last night when Glory emerged with a 1-0 win over the Reds. After three away games in the opening five matches Lowe said it was vital they won at home.
“We’ve really been focused on the home games but I thought it should have been wrapped up before we scored.”
Reds goalkeeper Paul Izzo didn’t make it easy – pulling off a string of saves and denying Glory a penalty in the opening minutes.
Lowe added: “We’ve got a few players playing out of position a little bit Xavi (Torres) is playing at the back and Andy is playing on the left. So we’ve got people sacrificing for the team which obviously is really commendable.”
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