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Striker Brendon Santalab has announced he'll retire at the end of the A-League season, and wants to go out a winner with Perth Glory.
Brendon Santalab wants to end his professional football career on a high with two A-League trophies with Perth Glory, while coach Tony Popovic is focused on his side bouncing back from a rare defeat.
Glory fell to their second loss of the season on Saturday at the hands of Melbourne Victory, and now sit six points ahead of Sydney FC and seven in front of Victory with four rounds remaining.
Leading into Sunday's away game against Central Coast, veteran Santalab announced this will be the last season of his A-League career.
The 36-year-old striker has played 133 A-League games for 40 goals, but his first season at Glory will also be his last.
Santalab was satisfied the time was right to retire, but said he was focused on helping Glory win the premiership and championship for the first time.
He's played 13 games for Perth in 2018-19, scoring one goal.
"I wanted to go out on a high, that's the most important thing," Santalab said.
"It's the right time for me and the next six weeks is a fantastic opportunity to win something, and go out on a high.
"I'm very happy and comfortable with my decision, it's been an incredible journey but the most exciting thing now is that I have an opportunity to win two trophies with only six weeks to go on my career."
Popovic couldn't fault his team's performance despite losing to Victory, with Glory looking dangerous all evening but struggling to convert.
He was confident of bouncing back with three points on the Central Coast - another significant step towards securing the premiership.
"We lost a game of football, we haven't lost one in a long time and we never said we'd go through without losing or that this would be easy," Popovic said.
"We wanted to create a possibility and opportunity to challenge the big boys, and we're doing that. It's a new experience for our club and players that we're on top, and that can only help us for the next big game."
