DEPLETED KNIGHTS NOT TAKING DEVELOPING CITY LIGHTLY

JAMES Sherman and his Glenorchy Knights will play their first fixture without “three of the best 10 players in the state” in Saturday’s clash with Launceston City.

Adam Gorrie had his season-ending ACL injury confirmed last week, while Alex

Walter and Joffrey Nkoso have completed moves to Victoria, with Hume City and Pascoe Vale respectively.

Sherman said despite a number of changes, his squad had systems in place to cope without the departing players.

“Once we get through some of the next two or three weeks, hopefully with some good performances, we’ll have found ourselves in a nice position again,” he said.

Sherman believes Launceston City poses a bigger threat than its position on the ladder would suggest.

“Let’s not forget they just got through a Cup quarterfinal with a [win] over a pretty reasonable Olympia side,” he said. “We’ll not be taking them lightly at all and our attitude towards it is, it’s another game and an opportunity to perform well.”

Launceston City coach Lino Sciulli said regardless of which players line up for the Knights, it will come down to the best team on the day.

“[Knights players] all know what it’s about, they’re all bigbodied people and they’re coached very well, so we’ll expect a tough fight,” Sciulli said. “But once you take that field, everything — ladders and all that — that’s all forgotten.”

He said his young side was still “a work in progress”, but believes it is close to coming together after scoring 11 goals in the past five games across all competitions.

“The key for us is goals against, more than goals for,” Sciulli said.

Elsewhere, South Hobart visits the Olympia Warriors, and Devonport Strikers and Kingborough Lions meet at Valley Road. Clarence Zebras travel North to face Riverside.