Canberra United star Nickoletta Flannery facing flu fight to be fit for Perth Glory

The news comes as the A-League Women's team will already be without defender Grace Taranto, who's been struck down by COVID-19.

United fly out on Saturday night as they look for redemption for the "one that got away" - taking on the Glory in Perth on Sunday.

The two teams met for a 2-all draw in round one, in a game where Canberra were clearly the better side and should've won.

Canberra coach Njegosh Popovich was confident Flannery would make the long trip to Perth, but he could still be forced into one change to the side that dispatched Wellington 3-0 last weekend.

They're set to be bolstered next week though, with Ellie Brush expected to be available for her first game since a knee reconstruction.

"We're looking good. I'm comfortable with the way the girls have prepared this week," Popovich said.

"We had a few minor hiccups with a few sicknesses and illnesses this week, but given the environment that's something we're going to be expecting moving forward - particularly around the festive season where people are getting together a lot more often and we're always running the risk.

"Grace Taranto will be out. She's confirmed - her PCR came back positive on Wednesday.

"Then we've had the flu with one of the players that we're still waiting to see whether she's going to be good enough to travel."

Despite the "hiccups", Popovich said they would still travel across the Great Australian Bight "quietly confident".

United dominated the Glory in their season opener at McKellar Park, with Grace Jale and Vesna Milivojevic scoring for the home side.

Canberra's now sixth on the ALW ladder - four points outside the top four, but with a game in hand.

Popovich said they'd shown they were an attacking team, now they needed to take their chances.

"We're quietly confident. We're confident every game we go into," he said.

"We don't like to disrespect any opposition, but we do feel like it's one that got away from us, the first round.

"Whether it was a bit of nerves left over from the previous year, we failed to complete our opportunities.

"We're very pleased going into this round - we top the table for possession based in the final third, we've had the most shots per game ... so we're definitely an attacking side.

"I feel like we'll get the opportunities, it's just a matter of taking them."

Popovich said while they'd love to be able to host a home grand final, the Australian Professional Leagues' decision to sell hosting rights to Sydney for the next three seasons was clearly a financial one.

He said United's only focus was on their results and making a push for the top four.

The APL's decision has caused widespread outrage from A-League fans, with Newcastle Jets supporters the first to protest by walking out of their A-League Men's game on Friday night.

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"Would we love a home GF? Of course we would, 100 per cent, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want one of those," Popovich said.

"But if it's out of our control, we need to control the controllables and what we can control is our results.

"That's something we need to focus on."

A-LEAGUE WOMEN

Sunday: Canberra United v Perth Glory at Perth, 7pm.

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