Perth Glory are on a roll and keen to gatecrash the top six, but coach Alen Stajcic won't be taking wooden spoon favourites Western United lightly in Ballarat on Saturday night.
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Glory have posted three wins and three draws from their past six matches to move to ninth on the A-League Men ladder.
The six-match unbeaten run means Glory are within seven points of sixth-placed Sydney, eight points of fifth-placed Western Sydney, and nine points of fourth-placed Macarthur.
Perth have an excellent chance to further close that gap when they take on last-placed Western United on Saturday night before hosting lowly Newcastle the following week.
With a new owner in place and an unbeaten run that began on January 20, things are finally looking up at Glory.
Stajcic says his side are hungry to snare a finals berth.
"We don't have to talk about that, it's just a given. We're in that hunt and we want to achieve that," Stajcic said.
"We're on the verge of competing for those positions.
"We've worked extremely hard to put ourselves in this position over the last six or seven matches - to be able to be now within striking distance."
Western United have posted just three wins and three draws from 18 matches this season.
They are averaging just one goal for and a hefty two goals against per match this campaign.
Nearest rival Newcastle are seven points ahead of them on the ladder.
The season has marked a big fall from grace for United, who just two years ago were crowned champions.
Despite United's struggles this season, Stajcic has been impressed by their form.
"For me, their position doesn't justify how well they played through the year," Stajcic said.
"I think in game play, they've been as good as any team in the competition."
United could welcome back Ben Garuccio and Daniel Penha from injury this week in what would be a major boost.
Glory are still without co-captain Mark Beevers (knee), but Mustafa Amini is a slight chance to return.
Perth utility Jarrod Carluccio believes a change in mindset has been behind Glory's form surge.
"I don't think anything drastic has changed. Maybe a little bit of a mentality switch, not being satisfied with performing well for 45, 50 minutes," he said.
"We've been trying to work towards putting together a good 90, 95-minute performance.
"I think that's changed over the last six weeks, and the results have started to show."
Australian Associated Press
