AN under-strength Strikers travel to the nation’s capital today in a game they would normally be expected to win easily.
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But with captain Nan Latta on national duty and four regulars unavailable, including Brooke Purtell who hyper-extended her knee at training on Tuesday, coach Tony Jones is expecting to be challenged.
Development squad members and under-17 rep players Ashley Gould and Jesse Nixon, along with under-15s Striker Sarah Lumby will make their debut against the winless Old Canberrans.
“On paper we should win but it will be a very different side to that which has been playing in recent weeks,” Jones said.
“I thought we should have won some of the previous games but that hasn’t been the case either and the 9-1 loss to Vikings was just out of character.
“But we had dramas on the way to that game, got changed in the bus and hopefully I underestimated the impact of all of that on our performance.”