Rudan sees Glory in United taking first step up A-League ladder

WESTERN United coach Mark Rudan has guaranteed the second-year club will climb up the A-League ladder as it looks for its first win of the season against Perth Glory on Saturday night.

United is winless after two games and only has one point from a Round 1 draw but

Rudan has not lost confidence in his group. He backed in the Green and Black to get its first win against an underdone Glory at to GMHBA Stadium.

“It’s going to take us a few more weeks to get our general fitness up and players to understand the movements, rotations and exactly what we want from each and every individual,” Rudan said.

“I’m very positive. Had we gone out there and played poorly and fell over and just won the game — or played ugly — I don’t think that’s the right thing to look at at this time of the season.

“It’s more important that we have players understanding our processes and doing all those things correctly and that’s what I’m seeing out there. I’m seeing a positive attitude, I’m seeing players who are trying to do the things we’ve been working on.

“If those processes remain the same, I guarantee we’ll continue to improve and move up the ladder very quickly.”

Glory played its first game of the season on Wednesday night in a 5-3 win over Adelaide United but will have to overcome a three-day turnaround.

Rudan said his group would be wary of Perth’s interrupted preparation because of the COVID-impacted fixture.

“My job is about making sure we are, once again, on the front foot and play with intensity and do all the things we’ve been working on, because I think from that side of things, although we’ve got one point from two games, I’ve been pretty pleased with the start, knowing we’ve had a lot of players come late in pre-season and (we) always knew it was going to take us a bit of time to get going,” he said.

“I thought we’ve done extremely well but they’re a dangerous side. They’ve got personnel that can hurt you.”