A-League Men: Perth Glory coach Adam Griffiths encouraged by nearing returns to fitness of four key attackers

Perth Glory coach Adam Griffiths is hopeful the return to full fitness of four key attacking pillars can lay the foundations for additional consistency as his side nears the halfway point of the season. And down the other end of the field, Griffiths has admitted they are eager to tie up goalkeeper Matt Sutton as his contract nears its end. Perth return home after two games in Melbourne for back-to-back matches at HBF Park, starting with Central Coast Mariners on Saturday night. In a boost for Glory, co-captain Adam Taggart is in line for an extended run after a recent groin injury saw him miss their last home game against Adelaide and restricted him to two bench appearances. The striker nursed a heel injury through the opening stages of the season and has not scored since their opening game against Wellington — but despite his goal drought, Taggart’s all-round performances and general play has not been a cause for concern. “He’s training well now, so we’re hoping that he’ll be fully available this week. I want him to get to a point where he is pain-free,” Griffiths said. “We’re getting closer to that, but we also want him to be able to train. Normally your training tends to lean towards your performance. “The more you work with the group, the more your fitness levels go up, and your performance should reflect that. That’s where we’re at with Tags, and we’re hoping that consistency will start to pay off.” Winger Lachie Wales (hamstring) and versatile attacking pieces Jaiden Kucharski (hamstring) and Sebastian Despotovski (calf) are all also close to a return over the next couple of weeks. “They’re not available for this game, but hopefully the next couple of weeks, with those additions, we start to become a stronger team,” Griffiths said. In their stead, young attacker Arion Sulemani has shown promising signs, and Griffiths said they wanted to continue building his confidence. “He’s a talented young player that we have a lot of hope for. He was brought to the club with that potential, and now we’re trying to just work on him to continue to improve,” he said. ”He’s got a lot of good energy, and he can put pressure on other strikers to make sure that they’re in form.” Glory have bade farewell to forwards Khoa Ngo (on loan) and Nathanael Blair (mutual termination) this week. But Griffiths said No.1 ‘keeper Sutton, whose short-term injury contract ends in mid-January, was “100 per cent” still in their plans and would hopefully not be following them out the door. “The club is in conversation now, and we should find out some more information soon,” he said. Griffiths also said the expected signing of Stefan Colakovski was close.