Glory hand Matt Sutton a deal after Birighitti blow
Justin Chadwick |
Perth Glory have signed Western United goalkeeper Matt Sutton on a short-term deal after one-cap Socceroos gloveman Mark Birighitti suffered a knee injury.
Birighitti is expected to miss about six to eight weeks of action after it was deemed minor surgery was needed to fix the knee injury he suffered at training.
The 34-year-old had spent the past two seasons with Scottish Premier League outfit Dundee United before signing a two-year deal to join Glory in June.
Birighitti’s injury-enforced absence has resulted in an A-League lifeline for Sutton, who starred for Western United last season but was left searching for a new home after the club went into liquidation amidst financial troubles.
Sutton made 29 starts last season and recorded 74 saves – the fourth-highest of the 2024/25 campaign.
The 25-year-old has joined Glory on a three-month injury-replacement contract.
“He was one of the standout goalkeepers in the A-League last term and will compete strongly with Cameron Cook for that starting spot in goal,” Glory’s football director Stan Lazaridis said.
Sutton joins midfielder Rhys Bozinovski and Iraq international Charbel Shamoon as other former Western United players to have joined Glory during the off-season.
Western United have been placed into “hibernation” this season as the club fights for its survival.
Perth Glory’s campaign begins on Saturday night at home to Wellington Phoenix at HBF Park.
Star import, former Rangers and Derby midfielder Tom Lawrence, will miss the season opener as he builds up fitness.
The 31-year-old former Welsh international will either be available for the round-two away clash with Melbourne City, or the home match against Melbourne Victory on October 31.
Former Phoenix defender Sam Sutton (knee/quad) is expected to miss the first four to five weeks of the season.
Glory have collected the past two wooden spoons, and are being widely tipped – along with Central Coast and Brisbane – to finish in the lower rungs again.
Perth posted just four wins and five draws from 26 matches last season, scoring only 22 goals and conceding a whopping 56 in the process.
It means the heat will be on second-year coach David Zdrilic from the outset this season, but he’s confident of a big rebound.
“We are much, much better than we were last year,” Zdrilic said.
“We’re aiming for finals this year. You can see we’ve recruited really well, the squad has gelled together.
“We’ve got a really good mix of experience now and youth.
“It’s a team that started the whole pre-season together, and very, very positive pre-season in terms of the work we’ve been able to get in.”
AAP
