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PERTH Glory coach Kenny Lowe has blasted A-League officials for scheduling Sunday’s match with Melbourne Heart in the heat of the day.
Lowe said yesterday the extreme temperatures may force him to change his line-up.
A forecast top of 41 degrees is set to greet Glory and Heart in their fixture at Lavington.
The Heart’s home games are usually played at AAMI Park in Melbourne, which is expected to reach a top of 38 degrees on Sunday.
Lowe was furious at the scheduling and wants the 3pm kick-off time to be moved back.
The A-League is likely to implement its heat policy for the match, which allows for drinks breaks in the middle of each half.
“I don’t know who organises stuff like that — middle of the country in February,” Lowe said.
“You can predict things like this.
“You’ve got some historical weather data.
“Maybe have a little look and see how it is in February at three o’clock.
“I remember a few months ago Alistair (Edwards) raised some concerns when it was 31.
“Now we’re up to 40, I believe.
“So we’ll play a game of head tennis in an air-con room to see who gets the three points.”
Click on the link below for the full round-up of HEART v GLORY news, including scoreboard and twitter feed.
Striker Darvydas Sernas was in freezing Lithuania only two weeks ago, while Serbian Nebojsa Marinkovic is another Glory recruit still trying to adapt to Australia’s summer.
“Really, from a duty of care and a moral obligation, you have to look after those two guys,” Lowe said.
“If we aren’t going to change (the kick-off time), if it is going to be that temperature, do you actually look at maybe not playing those lads for their sake?
“You see it today — it’s 27 degrees and they’re struggling with the heat, the poor guys.
“I said we’ll just shove them in the cooker for 30 minutes to try to get them acclimatised a bit more.”
Lowe said the hot conditions would also affect the quality of the game.
“What happens when you’re fatigued is your technique goes, your decision-making goes, so I’m sure it will be great (quality) for the first 10 (minutes),” Lowe said.
Former Mariners midfielder Rostyn Griffiths will make his Glory debut, but is only likely to play for about 45 minutes.
