Canberra United ready to deliver A-League home-opener glory amid Matildas fever

Canberra will face Perth Glory on Saturday afternoon at McKellar Park with huge turnout expected following a record boost in membership.

The Matildas' glorious run at the World Cup, and their recent Olympic qualifiers in Perth this past week has put women's soccer front and centre.

It couldn't be a more perfect lead-up for Canberra's first A-League home game of the year.

"It's absolutely buzzing," assistant coach Antoni Jagarinec said.

"You can't turn on a TV without seeing women's sport and women's football in particular, which means it's getting into households, and there's buy in.

"I was playing some some local football with my mates and everyone's asking what time is the United game this weekend and where it is.

"I've been in women's football for 18 years and it hasn't been like that before. So that kind of buy-in just around the community is really exciting to see.

"It comes with extra pressure to perform, but we want to be here."

United's coaching staff have noticed the lift of Matildas fever around Australia rub off on the players at training too.

"With the Matildas playing again [Wednesday] night, they're just buzzing and you can see they're trying to do extra things," Jagarinec said.

"Some of these girls want to be Matildas and some of them have been, so everyone's improving and wanting to be the best that they can be in every session, which is really good."

United are still searching for their first A-League win of the season, and finally securing victory would be extra sweet in on their own turf.

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Scoring goals hasn't been an issue for Canberra's potent attack led by in-form forwards Michelle Heyman and Vesna Milivojevic, so the focus will be on stopping goals this weekend.

"We've got to stop conceding goals. It is that simple," Jagarinec said.

"It's not going to happen overnight with a 22-week season. But it's something that way we're very focused on."

Stemming the flow of opposition goals becomes harder on Saturday though with Glory undefeated after two rounds, sitting top of the table, and with a former United striker at their disposal.

New Zealand international Grace Jale was a big addition for Canberra last season, but she departed for Perth and is now leading them from the front.

Jagarinec isn't worried about Jale giving away some inside information about how Canberra's game plan though, and backs his side to step up against the unbeaten Perth side.

"Grace is a phenomenal player," the coach said.

"She did a sensational job for Canberra United last year, but we've got 11 as well.

"They're going to be more worried about Michelle Heyman than we are about Grace Jale."

"Perth haven't travelled away. It's a tough trip to go to Perth and it's equally tough to come to Canberra," Jagarinec added.

"We're not playing at home to be bullied. We're going to be on the front foot and score goals."

Saturday: Canberra United v Perth Glory, McKellar Park, 4pm.

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