Ferguson focused on Glory, not Kewell

Kewell, on his favoured left wing, has rediscovered his form of old in recent weeks and looms as the key man to stop for Glory if it is to extend its unbeaten run to six games.

If Kewell fires, striker Archie Thompson could be in for a memorable night as he reaps the rewards of the Socceroos star's good work further up the field.

But rather than get overwhelmed by the task of containing Kewell, Glory will aim to hit Melbourne with its own array of attacking weapons, which include New Zealand international Shane Smeltz, Brazilian speed machine Andrezinho and former Socceroos midfielder Mile Sterjovski.

"The last four or five games Kewell's been probably their best player, so yeah he's very dangerous," Ferguson said.

"We need to keep an eye on him and we need to make sure that we don't give him too much space.

"We watched him against Adelaide and he floats from left to right, so you know he causes a few problems.

"But I don't like to worry too much about the other team.

"Let us try and take the game forward and let them worry about us at times as well.

"Hopefully we can try and get the three points and go forward and cause them problems rather than us worrying about one player."

Just three points separates the fifth-placed Glory (22) and seventh-placed Victory (19).

But with Victory threatening to make a late charge into the top-six, Ferguson knows this is a match his team can't afford to lose.

"It's a six pointer basically," Ferguson said.

"If we can get some daylight in between us and Melbourne - that's what's at stake."

Although Victory will be minus playmaker Carlos Hernandez (groin), Glory has plenty of injury concerns of its own.

Defensive options Dean Heffernan (knee), Josh Mitchell (knee), Scott Neville (knee) and Chris Coyne (achilles tendon) are unavailable, while Bas van den Brink (corked thigh) faces a race against time to prove his fitness.

Glory snared seven points from its recent three-game road trip.

But ahead of the club's sixth game in the space of 23 days, Ferguson urged his charges to dig deep and put in another valiant effort.