Head-to-head
Played 4: North Queensland Fury 2, Perth Glory 0, Draws 2

Previous Meeting
Perth Glory 3, North Queensland Fury 3, Round 1, 2010-11

History
Not a happy history for Perth Glory against Fury as they've never won a league match against the North Queenslanders. Indeed, Glory have been comprehensively outplayed and beaten in both their previous trips to Townsville, while the games in Perth have resulted in dramatic draws. The first of those last season saw Fury draw 1-1 through an unfortunate error by Glory stopper Tando Velaphi. But their last clash in Round 1 this season was an absolute classic, a 3-3 win where Chris Grossman scored an equaliser for Fury deep into injury time.

Past five matches:
North Queensland: LLDLL
Perth Glory: WLLLL

Match Committee
Some quality additions to the Fury squad as Brett Studman, Jason Spagnuolo and skipper Ufuk Talay return to the side. Talay is returning from a two-match suspension he copped for an off-the-ball incident but Fury coach Franz Staka is so impressed with his captain, he still believes the 34-year-old's presence could have been the difference over the past two rounds. Striker Dyron Daal will miss a week after being dismissed against the Mariners in the last round, while defender Andre Killian is also in some doubt after injuring his ankle at training during the week.

Glory have suffered two major blows leading into this encounter. Out goes coach Dave Mitchell, who's stepped down, and he's replaced by his former assistant Ian Ferguson in the hot seat. From a playing perspective, the Glory's hopes of arresting a four-game losing streak won't have improved by the absence of star striker Robbie Fowler. Fowler jetted off to the UK last week to sort some stuff out back home and now he hasn't come back when he was meant to. According to the new coach, there are some 'personal problems' to work through, so who knows what that means and how long he will be gone for. Fury will be mightily annoyed he's not returning to Dairy Farmers Stadium, however, as the presence of the former North Queensland captain would have added to the crowd in a big way. The only player to come into the side is defender Jamie Coyne, who returns from a one-game suspension and may need to go into central defence as Jamie Harnwell has been recovering from a calf injury.

Danger men
Chris Payne - The last time these two sides played in Round 1, the undisputed best-on-ground was striker Chris Payne. The former Sydney FC youngster scored one goal himself and brilliantly set up David Williams for another.

The entire Perth Glory side - Not so dangerous on the pitch, having scored just one goal in four games - that coming from a defender no less in Scott Neville - but they seem to be a danger to their coach.

At the end of the day….
Clubs have a history of responding to the loss of a coach. Glory did that three years ago when Mitchell first took over from sacked Ron Smith, beating that year's Premiership side Newcastle 4-1. There is a difference here, as Mitchell wasn't sacked, with Glory owner Tony Sage adamantly declaring it was Mitchell's own decision to step aside into a football director role. That being said, he would never have done so if the team hadn't lost four consecutive games, so the players will still be hurting hard.

Whether they can turn that hurt into a positive result here remains to be seen. Although Fowler hasn't figured in the goals much this season, he's provided a creative outlet in the midfield that's resulted in a number of goals to other players. Without the former Liverpool player, Glory will rely on Jacob Burns, Steven McGarry, Mile Sterjovski or Adriano Pellegrino to deliver those balls, and frankly, those guys haven't been doing that to such a great extent the past month. The service from the flanks has also been a worry. As the midfield output has dropped, so to has the number of balls being delivered into the penalty area from both the left and right, meaning those half chances to nab goals just haven't been created, while the opportunities from quick breaks have been squandered.

However, Fury have conceded 16 times this season, the equal most amount of goals alongside Sydney FC. As a result both sides sit on the lowest rungs of the table. But North Queensland are a much-improved beast at Dairy Farmers Stadium as they are used to the heat and humidity, while their visitors often haven't encountered those conditions. Although Daal, a regular goal scorer against Perth, is not out on the pitch, the Fury are fielding close to their strongest line-up of the season. Talay's presence will only help to bring frontmen Payne, Williams and SSeppuya into the contest, while the last time they played, Isaka Cernak tore shreds off the Glory defence as he attacked from the midfield with pace. There could be lots of goals here as neither side has a great defensive record, but whether the Glory have the creative ability to find the back of the net without Fowler remains to be seen.

TEAMS: 
North Queensland Fury squad: 1. Justin PASFIELD (gk), 2. Jack HINGERT, 3. Brad McDONALD, 4. Eric AKOTO, 5. Mark HUGHES, 6. , Ufuk TALAY (c), 7. Gareth EDDS, 9. Eugene SSEPPUYA, 11. David WILLIAMS, 13. Andre KILIAN, 14. Chris GROSSMAN, 15. Chris PAYNE, 16. Simon STOREY, 17. Osama MALIK, 18. Brett STUDMAN, 19. Isaka CERNAK, 21. Jason SPAGNUOLO, 28. Sebastian USAI (gk) *three to be omitted*

In: Brett STUDMAN (promoted), Jason SPAGNUOLO (promoted), Ufuk TALAY (returns from suspension)
Out: Dyron DAAL (suspended – 1 week)
Unavailable: Adam CASEY (calf – 1 week), Matthew HAM (knee – 3 weeks)

Perth Glory squad: 1. Tando VELAPHI, 3. Jamie COYNE, 4. Andy TODD, 5. Jamie HARNWELL, 7. Jacob BURNS (C), 10. Michael BAIRD, 11. Branko JELIC, 12.Scott NEVILLE, 14. Steven McGARRY, 16. Adriano PELLEGRINO, 17. Todd HOWARTH, 19. Naum SEKULOVSKI, 20. Aleks VRTESKI, 21. Mile STERJOVSKI, 22. Anthony SKORICH, 25. Ryan PEARSON *one to be omitted*

In: Jamie Coyne (returns from suspension)
Out: Robbie FOWLER (overseas)
Unavailable: Chris COYNE (on loan -6 weeks), Robbie FOWLER, Tommy AMPHLETT (Hamstring – 2 weeks)