Glory's Clisby keen to laugh away drama with Ikonomidis

Perth Glory defender Jack Clisby says he has learnt his lesson from the incident that earned a red card in a 3-1 win over Melbourne Victory.

CHRIS IKONOMIDIS.
CHRIS IKONOMIDIS. Picture: James Worsfold/Getty Images

Perth Glory milestone man Jack Clisby says he's keen to share a laugh with Chris Ikonomidis following last month's bitter on-field exchange between the former teammates.

Both Clisby and Ikonomidis were red-carded in Glory's 3-1 win over Victory on January 21.

Clisby received his marching orders after the referee spotted him lunging at Ikonomidis' throat.

But after viewing a replay of the seconds leading up to that incident, the referee also gave Victory star Ikonomidis a straight red for kicking out at Clisby.

The pain didn't end there, with the duo suspended for two matches over the on-field clash.

Ikonomidis and Clisby were teammates for one season at Western Sydney in 2017/18.

Glory don't face Victory again until April 9, and Clisby doesn't feel like there will be any angst when he comes face to face with Ikonomidis.

"It's in the past now. You could see it was a heated moment on the field, a bit of a reaction from myself," Clisby said.

"I've recognised that and done my time now.

"It's one of those things in football. I've got no hard feelings towards Chris. I've played with him before and he's a nice guy

"The next time I see him we'll probably laugh about it."

Clisby will notch his 200-game A-League Men milestone when he lines up in Saturday night's clash with Central Coast at Macedonia Park.

The 31-year-old started his career at Glory in 2012, and went on to spend time at Melbourne City, Western Sydney, and Central Coast before returning in 2021.

Clisby is renowned as a hard-working defender, but he's also built a reputation as a goalscorer this season after producing two long-range wonder strikes.

"I set my targets to be more involved in goals going forward, whether that's helping set up goals or scoring more goals, as well as being very solid in the back with our defence," Clisby said.

The second-placed Mariners will be boosted by the return of Brazilian star Moresche, who hasn't played since suffering a serious knee injury late last season.

Defender Brian Kaltak returns from suspension.

Glory will be without defender Darryl Lachman, who was red-carded in last week's 4-2 loss to Melbourne City.

Star winger Salim Khelifi has made a quicker-than-expected recovery from a foot injury, but he won't feature this week.

Glory sit in ninth spot, but they are just two points adrift of the top six.